'He's a handful'

England striker Nile Ranger proved his international worth over the last week, by firing the Young Lions to the European Championship Finals and Head Coach Brian Eastick believes the Newcastle United starlet could have a bright future.

The Londoner struck four goals in the three Elite Round games in Yorkshire this week, after only making his first international appearance as a second half substitute against Czech Republic in March.

Still a year younger than most of his opponents and team-mates, he has certainly left a big impression with his powerful performances and goals and Eastick admits that as soon as he saw Ranger in action he felt he could be a useful player to have in the squad.

“He was at Southampton first and then he got picked up by Newcastle and I’ve spoken to their Academy manager Richard Money and seen him play two or three times in their reserves,” admitted Eastick, after seeing Ranger net the first goal in Monday’s 2-1 win against Scotland.

“He came in and played 45 minutes against Czech Republic and that was enough to convince me that he’s going to be a handful.

“There are areas of his game that he needs to improve on, but he’s still only an U18 player so he can play for the U19s next season as well. “

Since arriving in the north-east last summer, Ranger has been a regular scorer for both the Academy and reserve team over the course of the season and was recently rewarded with a new long term contract by Alan Shearer.

“I think he’s one that Newcastle will be looking to hang on to next season,” added Eastick.

“I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t get into their first team squad on a regular basis next year.”

You can see highlights of all three of England's qualifiers, only on TheFA.com now.