'Taken his time': Lee Carsley has spoken about his decision to give Newcastle United star his first senior international call-up

On Thursday afternoon, Lee Carsley named what will be his final England squad as interim manager with no internationals in December before Thomas Tuchel takes over the role on 1st January.

There had been a lot of noise recently over a call-up for Newcastle United's in-form left-back Lewis Hall, there was almost a tacit acceptance that Hall would likely have to wait until Thomas Tuchel took over the role before he was called up.

After all it was Tuchel who gave Hall his debut at Chelsea which ultimately led to his dream move to the club he supported as a child, Newcastle.

Hall had to wait to break into Newcastle's side much to his and indeed fans' frustration, but once he was handed a run of games towards the back end of last season, the 20-year-old hasn't looked back.

Getty Images

Lee Carsley wants Lewis Hall to rise to the challenge

Hall has picked up several Player of the Match accolades this season for Newcastle as well as England U21s where of course, Hall will have worked with Lee Carsley before.

Now Carsley has called him up to the main stage, telling reporters (via The Chronicle) that he's interested to see how he reacts to the challenge.

"Lewis has taken his time to settle in but has shown he can be consistent. He's got a great left foot. It's a good challenge to see if he can maintain that in the squad.

"Both players [Lewis Hall and Taylor Harwood-Bellis] who have played a lot of minutes this season, showed they can play at a high level. I know them both really well."

Lewis Hall has essentially replaced teammate Tino Livramento in the England squad

You could argue that Lewis Hall has taken Tino Livramento's place in the England squad, but as Tino had to watch from the sidelines during England's last four games, the fact that England are so light on left-backs suggests that Hall has a much higher chance of actually getting his first cap.

It also won't hurt Hall's chances that he's likely to be playing behind club mate Anthony Gordon down the left flank, and Carsley could use their understanding to his advantage.

England face Greece at the Athens Olympic Stadium on Thursday, 14th November (kick-off 7.45pm GMT) before hosting Republic of Ireland on Sunday, 17th November at Wembley Stadium (kick-off 5pm GMT).