Forward Tammy Abraham’s England call-up is a reward for his goalscoring and all-round development at Swansea City, manager Paul Clement said ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.
File image of Tammy Abraham. Reuters
Abraham was included on Thursday in England’s squad for friendlies against Germany and Brazil at Wembley next week, and Clement said the on-loan Chelsea player had the characteristics to cope with the demands of international football.
The 20-year-old has scored four Premier League goals for Swansea this season and could become the second player from the Welsh club after Jonjo Shelvey to be capped by England.
“His goalscoring is the big thing, but I think in recent games he has shown that his all-round game is developing too,” Clement told a news conference on Thursday.
”He got a lovely assist against Arsenal (last week). His back-to-goal play is improving and so is his defensive work... it’s pleasing news, particularly for Tammy but also for our club and for his parent club Chelsea.
“He is making positive steps... he will cope well with being in the England squad because he is a confident young man. He needs to take it in his stride and stay grounded, and I am sure the people around him will help him do that.”
Meanwhile, Clement said his 17th-placed team had to improve quickly to achieve their mid-season target.
“We know we have to be better. We want to get to 20 points as fast as possible – we want to be on 20 at least by the halfway point in this season,” he said.
“We have some injuries, but the players who are fit are well capable of putting a good performance in on Saturday.”
Swansea have eight points from 10 games while Brighton have four points more and are five places above them.
Published Date: Nov 02, 2017 11:13 pm | Updated Date: Nov 02, 2017 11:13 pm
