Levi Colwill reacts to his well deserved England senior team debut

Chelsea defender Levi Colwill looking to build on ‘amazing’ England debut

Levi Colwill, who made his England debut in the victory over Australia, had a “amazing” night and is more than willing to play outside of his natural position in order to remain competitive.

The 20-year-old defender participated in every minute of England’s 1-0 victory at Wembley, a step up from the summer’s triumph at the European Under-21 Championship.

Colwill, who spent the previous season on loan at Brighton, has started each of Chelsea’s first eight Premier League games this year.

He received his first senior call-up from Gareth Southgate last month, but he couldn’t make his debut until Friday’s friendly matchup with the Socceroos.

It was incredible, he said to beIN Sports.

“(A win and a clean sheet is) the best way to have a debut,” said a player. “Hopefully, we can build off the performance against Italy as a team and as individuals and go from there.”

Colwill, who rose through the ranks as a center-back for both club and country, started on the left side of defense against Australia and has also played there recently for Chelsea.

“Obviously, it is a different role,” he said.

“But I have been playing there for my club and I am enjoying it and if it gives me a chance to start and to play, I’m all for it.”

Southgate made 10 changes for the game as a blend of fringe players and young talent was given the chance to stake a claim.

 

For the friendly against Australia, Gareth Southgate made ten roster changes (Zac Goodwin/PA).

The England manager later acknowledged that he had given his team a “difficult task” because a lack of “cohesion” made the evening more difficult than he had hoped.

Colwill explained the team’s strange appearance by saying, “We have had a few days, we met on Monday, so we have been working hard.

“Getting to know players is obviously difficult as that isn’t a lot of time, but I think we put in a performance we can be proud of and we just have to build from there,” said one of the players.