West Ham United coaching assistant Julian Dicks has insisted that left-back Aaron Cresswell got what he deserved after he was called up for the England senior side for the first time ahead of their clashes with Scotland and Spain.
More than deserving
Cresswell was brought in along with Sunderland's Jordan Pickford by interim manager Gareth Southgate, in place of Leicester City's Danny Drinkwater. The 26-year-old has performed well since returning from his pre-season injury, and has thrived as a wing-back in Slaven Bilic's new 3-4-3 formation.
Cresswell could be in line to take on Gordon Strachan's side on Friday night, or the Spanish national side on Tuesday, and Dicks proclaimed that it would be no more than he deserved. “I thought Aaron was our most consistent player last season," he told whufc.com. "Unfortunately he got injured during pre-season but his call-up has been a long time coming. He is a good lad and hopefully he gets to play."
“It surprised me that he didn't get a call-up during the summer and that he never got the chance to play last season," the coach said. "He has been the most consistent player and has a great left foot on him." Dicks added: "Aaron has got a great engine on him and does the job very well. It is about time that a West Ham left back got a call-up into the England squad!"
Hard to ignore
Cresswell became the second Hammer of the season to get a call-up for the Three Lions following in the footsteps of Michail Antonio, and Dicks believes that the time has come for West Ham players to be recognised on the international stage.
"A lot of West Ham players have been overlooked by England over the years going back to when Billy Bonds was playing," he stated. “But when you have players like Michail and Cress, you can't keep overlooking them because they are two outstanding players."
Dicks concluded: “The World Cup in 2018 is a big goal for any player and now Cress has got into the squad, hopefully he can stay there and it would be lovely for West Ham to have some players performing at the World Cup.”
England will take on Scotland in their 2018 World Cup qualifier at Wembley Stadium on Friday, November 11 with kick-off at 7:45pm BST.