Gareth Southgate hails Tottenham defender Eric Dier for two recent England performances

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Gareth Southgate praised Tottenham’s Eric Dier after England’s draw against Denmark on Tuesday night and claimed his two performances during the international break have been “excellent”.

England have recorded a 0-0 draw with Denmark and a 1-0 win over Iceland during the two Nations League fixtures in the past few days, with players now set to return to their clubs ahead of the start of the Premier League this weekend.

Dier completed 180 minutes in the two England matches and was used at centre-back, which appears to be his preferred role moving forward for both club and country.

The 26-year-old has been deployed commonly as a defensive midfield in his career so far, but is reverting to the centre-back area where he first started out.

International manager Southgate has hailed the Spurs enforcer for his two recent displays.

“Eric Dier has had two excellent games at centre-back for us, so the back three today were very, very solid,” Southgate said, as quoted by England’s official Twitter account.

Dier wasn’t perfect during the international games and there were times against Denmark he was caught out with players getting in behind him, but it’s likely he would be playing in a back four at Spurs rather than a back three like he did Tuesday night.

It’s clear that he’s got the faith of both Southgate and Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, so he’ll be given time to really try grow into his role as a centre-back.