Newcastle United star Lewis Hall given England 'challenge' as Lee Carsley explains selection

England stand-in boss Lee Carsley has revealed why he picked Lewis Hall for his last two England matches.

The Newcastle United left-back goes into the UEFA Nations League squads against the Republic of Ireland and Greece after impressing in the Premier League. Carsley knows all about Hall's capabilities after working with him in the England youth ranks.

Hall's development has been gradual under Eddie Howe who phased him into his plans after a loan arrival at Chelsea. At one stage fans wondered why his initial loan had been made and what his future was, but the deal was made permanent last spring.

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Carsley said today: "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."

Expanding on the call-ups for Hall and Southampton's Taylor Hardwood-Bellis, Carsley said: "Both players who have played a lot of minutes this season, showed they can play at a high level. I know them both really well."

Carsley's side 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).

Paying tribute to Hall on the back of his £28million move and subsequent rise to brilliance, Howe said: "It’s very, very difficult to sign young players, which Lewis was when we initially signed him, and then for them to come straight into your team.

"There was a big transfer fee attached to his name, and I think that was the issue for everybody, they wanted to see him straight away. We knew he had a bit of work to do to get to the level where we needed him to be.

"The challenge then for Lewis is to accept he’s come for a big transfer fee, but then actually do the work. I’ve seen players who haven’t responded well to that. To Lewis’ great credit, he got his head down and did the work.

"He worked incredibly hard, double sessions after training, a lot of review and analysis into how he was getting on. We had no doubt that he would step into the team and hopefully take his opportunities when they came.

"I thought he really grabbed it towards the end of last season, and he hasn’t looked back at the beginning of this. I still feel there’s more growth and development in his game, but I think he’s in a really good place and has started the season very well."