Gareth Southgate hits back at Mason Mount and Frank Lampard doubters

The 22-year-old continued his great performance in the 5-0 victory over

San Marino

with another impressive display against

Albania

on Sunday, scoring the Three Lions’ second goal in a 2-0 win.

Mount

is becoming an integral part of the

England

squad and is enjoying a fantastic season with Chelsea under

Tuchel

, who replaced

Lampard

in January.

Gareth Southgate

has long been a huge fan of Mason Mount and named him in his starting line-up for the seventh straight game against Albania, but he made a pointed comment after the win, suggesting it has taken the approval of Tuchel for others to appreciate the midfielder.

Speaking after Sunday’s win in Tirana, Southgate said of Mount:

“He is a great player, but I was saying this in the autumn. I suppose now that Thomas Tuchel picks him, everybody will agree. When it was Frank, it doesn't count for some reason.

“He is an exceptional player. He finds space intelligently, he manipulates the ball very well, he creates chances and he can score goals. I thought his performance was excellent tonight.”

He also reflected on the rest of the team’s performance and was content with his men’s effort in the attacking line.

“I thought Phil Foden was also good. I thought our attacking four were good. [Declan] Rice and [Kalvin] Phillips read the game well, competed well and won the ball back quickly. We had over 70% possession and controlled the game. In the end, we created more chances and we could have scored more.”

Southgate added

.

Follow

for the