West Ham defender Ben Johnson is set to play out of position this evening as he makes his England Under-21s debut.
The Hammers academy graduate has been handed his first call-up at any level by England and Young Lions boss Lee Carsley is planning to use the 22-year-old as a central defender when his side face Andorra in Bournemouth.
Johnson, traditionally a right-back who has also operated on the left side of defence for David Moyes, has only once played centrally for the West Ham senior side - deployed as one of a back three in the Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat at Tottenham earlier this season.
However, with fierce competition at right-back through the England setup, playing centrally is his best shot at progression.
Johnson is one of three right-backs in the U21s alone, with Tino Livramento and Djed Spence also in the squad. Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey withdrew on Friday morning due to illness.
"It is really important that you've got players in the squad who can play in two or three positions and Ben can do that," said Carsley.
"He's got all the attributes of a full-back with his athleticism but he's also got the stature of a centre-back. He's tall and aggressive. The fact he can play left side is a bonus.
"He's been really impressive on and off the pitch, all the staff have taken a shine to him and you can see why David Moyes and West Ham are so keen on him."
Asked if Johnson's versatility puts him higher up the England pecking order than some of his rivals, Carsley added: "Definitely, yeah. I think with his stature and against teams like Andorra who are going to let us have a lot of the ball he can play at centre-back quite comfortably, or in a three as one of the outside centre-backs. I see his flexibility as a real bonus."
