How Lewis Miley fared for England Under-21s as Newcastle star made first start vs Netherlands

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Lewis Miley made his first-ever start for England’s Under-21s on Monday evening.

It has been an incredible week for Newcastle United’s English stars after Anthony Gordon, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall started alongside each other in the 5-0 win over Ireland.

Gordon scored his first England goal while Hall and Livramento enjoyed their first-ever start for the Three Lions.

READ MORE: Every Newcastle United player on international duty and their fixtures as England call-up Tino Livramento

Just 24 hours later, Newcastle academy star Lewis Miley made his first start for England’s Under-21s in the 1-1 draw against Netherlands.

Miley has recently returned from a lengthy injury and is now fighting to earn a starting spot in Eddie Howe’s side.

He picked up some valuable minutes with England on Monday evening and put on a solid performance.

The numbers behind Lewis Miley’s England Under-21s display

Miley started for England’s Under-21s in a midfield trio that included Jobe Bellingham and Tyler Morton.

Interestingly, the Newcastle star played in a more advanced midfield role, joining an attack that included Newcastle transfer target Tyler Dibling.

Miley played 57 minutes before being taken off and replaced by Jesurun Rak-Sakyi as England looked to defend their lead. However, the Three Lions conceded late on after Miley was taken off.

A quick glance at Miley’s stats on his first start shows how he fared on his first start.

Miley was given a 6.5 rating by SofaScore for his performance after he was left slightly isolated further up the pitch.

He took 16 touches and completed eight passes. He only lost possession four times and won one of three ground duels.

Miley was unable to impact the match as much as he would have liked, but his work rate and energy in midfield was crucial.

Lewis Miley fighting for starting spot at Newcastle United

Miley will now return to Tyneside and join back up with Howe’s squad ahead of the Premier League clash against West Ham on Monday evening.

Howe has a big selection headache in midfield with a handful of stars pushing to start.

Sandro Tonali has been dropped in recent games with Howe fielding a midfield of Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock.

Howe believes central midfield is Newcastle’s strongest position, which could make it very difficult for Miley to earn a starting spot.

However, with a hectic winter schedule now approaching, there should be plenty of opportunities for Miley to pick up minutes.