Lewis Hall has dropped out of the Newcastle United team at the wrong time, which could complicate his World Cup dream with England.
While Hall is one of the best young left-backs in world football right now, Eddie Howe has overlooked him in recent weeks.
Indeed, Dan Burn has been brought back into the team and has broadly done well.
Hall’s defensive aptitude has been questioned in recent weeks and with Burn impressing of late, he faces a fight to get back into the Newcastle United side.
All of this comes at a very bad time for Hall.
Hall dropped at Newcastle despite previous good form
The decision to select Burn over Hall has divided opinion, which is only likely to continue.
Still, Howe issued a strong backing over his team selection – Burn for Hall included – after Newcastle’s win over Brighton.
“I went with players I can really trust and I know can handle this type of atmosphere and pressure,” he said. “Those players have never let me down and they didn’t today.”
While there is no suggestion that he doesn’t trust Hall, the fact he places so much emphasis on the players he knows best to get him through a rocky patch is bad news for the former Chelsea defender.
Burn hasn’t done enough to warrant being dropped, other than the fact that he simply isn’t Hall.
Losing his place this close to the World Cup is extremely bad news for the former Chelsea defender. Hall remains a fringe player for England, even amid calls for him to start at the World Cup following some fine form while clad in black and white.
Again, suggesting he won’t be included in the squad entirely now is a touch dramatic. Still, amid a battle with the likes of Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly for a starting berth, dropping out of the team at club level is hardly a helpful development.
Whatever one may think of the decision to drop Hall, it does not exactly help his cause with England.