Former England midfielder Kieron Dyer has used an old article about Manchester United ace Paul Scholes as an example to warn players against doing controversial interviews before important matches.
The Three Lions face off against France in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday night, with Gareth Southgate's side having cruised past Senegal in the Round of 16. Meanwhile, Les Bleus - who overcame Poland in their last-16 tie - will be hoping that talisman Kylian Mbappe continues in the same rich vein of form.
The Paris Saint-Germain man has scored five goals in four matches in Qatar and is currently the top goalscorer at the tournament. His teammates have been keen to warn England about the threat the attacker poses ahead of the crunch match at the weekend.
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On Friday, Dyer and former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison appeared on Sky Sports News, with the pair looking at news headlines ahead of England's quarter-final clash against France.
Discussing an article from the Daily Mirror - about Dayot Upamecano sending a 'message' to the Three Lions defenders - Dyer used Scholes as an example to argue his point of view on the matter.
"You don't want to give someone a mental advantage. I remember doing an article back in the day about Paul Scholes, we were playing Man United the day before and I said 'I'm coming for Paul Scholes' England shirt' or something, and he went out and scored a hat-trick the next day," he said.
"So I would just say to all the players now, 'just let your football do the talking'. You don't want to give anyone an advantage here. If our England defenders are reading that, [they will be like] 'we'll show you."
Scholes scored a hat-trick against Dyer's Newcastle United in the 2002/2003 season, with United winning the match 6-3. During his international career, the ex-Reds midfielder recorded 66 caps and registered 27 goal contributions.
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