Eberechi Eze has been backed by Roy Hodgson to earn an England call-up, following his return to form for Crystal Palace.
Eze scored twice and was outstanding as Palace beat struggling Southampton 2-0 at St Mary’s on Saturday to secure their third straight win under Hodgson and pull further clear of the relegation scrap.
The 24-year-old struggled under Patrick Vieira towards the end of his reign, but has been brilliant for Palace in their resurgence since Hodgson took over.
Eze, who qualifies to represent both Nigeria and England, was set to be selected by Gareth Southgate in his provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2020, but suffered an Achilles injury. Now looking back to his best, he is targeting a call-up ahead of Euro 2024 next summer.
Asked if Eze is capable of representing his country, former England manager Hodgson said: “Yes, why not? The people watching for Gareth Southgate at the moment will be making their assessments and they don’t need any help or advice from me on that subject.
“But, if you’re talking about a player’s ambition, young as he is, a massive possibility to keep improving and keep doing well with every Premier League game he plays, I think if I was him I would be saying, ‘I’m so good I’m going to make that my ambition’.
“But the only way he’ll do that is by producing more and more of these performances and hoping that Steve Holland and Gareth Southgate watch him and come to the same conclusion — that this is a player that can help us out.”
Palace have moved nine points clear of the bottom three after their win at Southampton and a victory at home to fourth-from-bottom Everton at Selhurst Park on Saturday could all-but secure their survival.
