Luton fans call on England boss Gareth Southgate to have a serious look at Hatters defender

Luton Town fans believe that wingback Alfie Doughty should be given serious consideration by England manager Gareth Southgate’s for a place in the national team going forward.

With the Three Lions struggling to fill that their left back berth for their recent Euro 2024 qualifier against North Macedonia, Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Kieran Tripper and Levi Colwell all absent, Southgate turned to Manchester City youngster Rico Lewis for the 1-1 draw in Skopje.

However, Doughty, is one of the top performing English full backs so far this term, the fourth highest English player for chances created in the top tier with 25 from his 12 outings, only behind Trippier, James Maddison and James Ward-Prowse, sitting 10th overall.

The 23-year-old, who has made 49 appearances for Luton since joining from Stoke City in June 2022, had lost his place to summer signing Ryan Giles for three out of the opening four top flight games, but returned with a sparkling display in the 1-1 draw against Wolves.

He hasn’t looked back s i nce, starting the last eight matches and has the third highest average for crosses per game in the entire league, with 2.2, while he is also averaging 2.1 key passes per match as well, easily the highest in the Hatters squad.

A poll on the Luton News Twitter page asking if Southgate should take a serious look at Doughty after his start to life in the Premier League, saw almost 1,000 vote, with 70.6% saying he should be in the thoughts of the Three Lions’ chief going forwards.

However, Town fans aren’t sure that Southgate holds the same opinion as them though, as @mikedoney said: “More chance of being struck by lightning.

@NevvyNoChange: "sOUThgate would just call up another right back.”

@QueenDidodotOrg: “Better for us keeping Alfie at Kenny: who cares for Southgate?

@ltfcdan: “Absolutely not he's miles off being ready for England - let the man develop.”

@DynamoKevCOYH: “Plays as a wing-back while England use a back four.

"While his individual performances have been good, he's never going to get into the England squad as part of a defence that's yet to keep a clean sheet.

@GlennMcG4: “People looking at this through rose tinted glasses, Alfie has been doing very well but he is absolutely nowhere near the England side.

"Leave him to concentrate on improving his game at Premier league level.”