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Danny Bloomer

Ian Wright claims Leeds United man not the sort of player England should be 'afraid of'

Pundit Ian Wright believes on loan Leeds United winger Daniel James is not the sort of player England should have been 'afraid' of despite his pace. James played 77 minutes of Wales' 3-0 defeat to the Three Lions on Tuesday and he - along with the rest Rob Page's attackers - failed to make any sort of impact on the game.

Despite a comfortable win for England, Wright was of the opinion that Gareth Southgate's side did not pass the ball between the lines enough, particularly during the first half. In fact, their only opportunity in the opening 45 minutes came through the loss of possession from Wales.

Speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast, the former Arsenal striker posed the question as to whether England were 'afraid' of playing risky passes due to the pace of James on the counter. He then claimed, however, that James does not possess enough quality for England to have that sort of mindset.

READ MORE: Leeds United get a World Cup boost for Man City visit and see the door open for a new face too

He said: “You cannot tell me that they were afraid of Daniel James' pace. Daniel James is not somebody for me, in the way he plays, with all due respect to him, that you should be that much afraid where you are afraid to pass the ball through lanes because they might win it and then break.

"You’ve got to deal with the break if that happens because apart from the fact we kind of turned the ball over in the midfield and Marcus went through and should've scored maybe, we didn't really do enough."

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