Some had called it long ago.In fact, such was Anderson’s promise, one or two of his former teachers at Valley Gardens Middle School even considered placing a bet on him playing for England one day.Anderson always had talent – a former team-mate still has his number saved as ‘wonderkid’ in his contacts – but he has gone on to quietly prove he can do both sides of the game at Forest.On the ball, Anderson has made more line-breaking passes than any other midfielder so far in the Premier League this season (32), including a superb assist for Chris Wood in his side’s opening day win against Brentford.Out of possession, meanwhile, Anderson ranked second for duels won (242), third for possession won (207) and fifth for tackles (92) among players in his position in the top-flight last year.No wonder Tuchel hailed Anderson as a “good package” after he helped England under-21s retain their European title a couple of months ago.Anderson, who featured in every game, was named in the team of the tournament at the Euros and under-21s manager Lee Carsley “really enjoyed working with him”.”He’s very committed to his preparation and doing well,” Carsley said. “I know how desperate he is to play for England. “He made that really clear in all the conversations that we had. We constantly spoke about putting him in a position where he was selectable and he’s done that with his determination, commitment and confidence.”He’s got so many attributes. He’s physically very good, technically he’s excellent but, more importantly, his mentality to be a top player is what has put him in this position and he should be really proud of what he’s doing.”It could have been very different, of course.Anderson, who has a Scottish grandmother, previously represented the Tartan Army through the age groups and was even handed a senior call-up in 2023.But Ben Dawson, who was Newcastle’s first-team development coach at the time, also recalled how determined Anderson was to play for the Three Lions.”I remember having discussions with Elliot, saying Scotland could be a great opportunity to play European Championship games and World Cup qualifiers, but he was adamant that he would play for England,” Dawson said.”I told him recently that I was really pleased he backed himself and stood by his decision to prove that he was good enough because, at the time, I was of the opinion that it was a big call and he could potentially miss out on an international career, but he’s always backed himself to be good enough at the top level.”
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Elliot Anderson: Nottingham Forest midfielder set for England senior debut
