Tayo Edun is determined to excel at the FIFA Under-17s World Cup and repay the faith shown in him by Neil Dewsnip.
The Fulham left-back has been selected in the England head coach’s Young Lions squad for the showpiece in Chile.
Edun and his team-mates arrived in South America on Friday, but after red cards in his last two appearances ahead of the squad announcement, the 17-year-old has revealed his extra motivation to impress the manager at the tournament.
"I wasn’t sure about the call-up because I had a bit of a rough time, getting sent off twice, so I’m happy that the coach trusts me in such a big competition and I’m pleased that he hasn’t made any drastic changes and taken me out," he told FulhamFC.co.uk prior to his departure for international duty.
Chile v England
U17s International
10pm, Sunday 11 October
Estadio el Teniente, Rancagua, Chile
"I’m happy that he’s trusted me because understandably he would have had a couple of doubts, but I’m ready to go and show him that it’s worth taking me. I’ve never been to South America before so it should be a good experience."
Perhaps one of the main reasons for his inclusion in the 21-man squad for the competition is the options his versatility offers.
The youngster has made four appearances for Fulham’s Under-21 side this season, occupying a central midfield role on each occasion.
And although he is primarily a left-back, where he has featured mostly for his country, Edun is happy to fill in wherever he’s needed.
"I prefer left-back but wherever you play on the pitch you’ve got to do the job for the team," he said. "It’s good for me to have that option that I can help out at left-back or centre-mid. Like I said, I prefer left-back, but I don’t mind doing a job further forward if needed."
Edun and his colleagues have been settling into the capital city of Santiago since their arrival, and the defender has enjoyed every second of his experience so far.
"We had our first training session and the boys did well after the long trip over," he said.
The England squad had their first training session in Chile on Friday
"It’s been good to see a bit of Santiago too, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of Chile throughout the tournament."
England will get the chance to see more of the host nation on the pitch when they face Chile in their final warm-up match on Sunday.
With a bumper crowd expected to cheer on La Roja, Edun believes it will provide the squad with an ideal experience ahead of the big kick-off against Guinea next Saturday.
"I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully it will be the ideal match for us ahead of the tournament. It’ll give us a bit of an experience of playing in front of the crowds here," he said.
"We think it is going to be a big one, and we hope there is a big turnout, so we just want to put on a performance and get another win."
He added: "We’ve made a good start to our preparations for the tournament and the team just seems to be getting stronger and stronger with every game. The victory over DR Congo on Wednesday was a good example of what we can do when we get it right.
"That was also an important game to have in the build-up as it gave us an insight into what we could be facing in our first game against Guinea. When we go into it now we will have a bit more knowledge of what we might be coming up against."
Follow @England on Twitter for all the latest news from the Young Lions World Cup camp in Chile.
