Dan Burn has joined the England squad for the first time in his career but he has met up with some familiar faces.
It’s been a week of a lifetime for Dan Burn, who went from earning his first England call-up on Thursday to scoring the opening goal in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
Burn was sensational at Wembley as Newcastle United defeated Liverpool 2-1 to claim their first domestic trophy since 1955.
Alexander Isak got the decisive goal while the likes of Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Kieran Trippier were sensational but Burn, ironically, stood head and shoulders above everyone.
There was no time for Burn to celebrate with a drink on Sunday night, though, as he quickly linked up with the England squad at St. George’s Park on Monday for the first time in his career.
However, he has revealed he is already friends with Reece James and coach Anthony Barry.
Dan Burn names Chelsea’s Reece James as a friendly face at England
Speaking in his first press conference as an England representative, Burn was asked what the reaction was like from his new teammates upon linking up with the Three Lions.
He said: “It was good. I was probably one of the first here.
“I knew Reece James from Chelsea and obviously Tino, so it was good to see them.
“I’ve played against these lads numerous times and spoke to them on the pitch so it’s always going to be friendly but it’s competition as well.”
Burn knows James personally as they played together during their time at Wigan Athletic.
Burn played over 100 times for the Lancashire club, while the Chelsea captain spent the 2018-19 season on loan there.
As well as James, Burn also knows England coach Anthony Barry from Wigan as well.
“It was sharp,” he said about England training on Monday, though he didn’t take part.
“I was on recovery so I didn’t actually train but I was sat upstairs thinking: ‘Wow, I’m going to have to be on top of my game.’
“It was good. I know Anthony Barry, we spent time together at Wigan. I know he’s a top coach and what he expects from training.
“It all looked really sharp. I’m on recovery now but I’ll be training soon which is good because you don’t get a gage of each other until you’ve seen people train.”
Dan Burn aims to play in 2026 World Cup
Should Burn return to Wembley to make his debut against either Albania or Latvia then he will be the oldest England debutant since 33-year-old Kevin Davies in 2010.
The defender has admitted that, at 32, he thought England had passed him by but has now firmly set his sights on making the 2026 World Cup.
He said: “I would say Monday it [World Cup] definitely wasn’t on my radar. But now I think that’s got to be the ultimate aim.
“I think there’s going to have to be a lot of steps that I’m going to have to go through to get there but I feel like being in that very first camp is important.
“It means at the moment I am there. But I don’t want to be there for no reason. I want to be there because I’ve proven to people that I should be there. I’m excited to get my chance.”
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