Why West Ham midfielder Mark Noble deserves his chance with England

Noble's stats shape up well against England's other midfielders. Credit: PA

With friendlies against Germany and the Netherlands pencilled in for later this month, you'll struggle to find anyone who deserves an England call-up more than Mark Noble.

The West Ham captain is playing a pivotal role in his team's impressive campaign, as Slaven Bilic chases FA Cup glory and European qualification in his first season at the helm.

The 28 year-old midfielder has never won a senior international cap during his 12 year career, despite representing England's under-21 side 20 times between 2007 and 2009.

In fairness, England have been blessed with talented central midfielders over the past decade, when the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick were always favoured while playing for teams fighting it out for major honours.

Carrick, Eric Dier, Fabian Delph, James Milner and Jordan Henderson have also been selected by Roy Hodgson since he took charge, with Jonjo Shelvey drafted in ahead of Noble when Henderson was ruled out through injury in November 2015.

This Premier League stats for 2016 alone, provided by fantasy football game Oulala, suggest it's not inconceivable that Noble could replace one of those players at this late stage. In fact, they throw weight behind Noble's cause for a seat on England's plane to France.

When compared with Milner, Dier, Henderson, Carrick and Delph, the West Ham skipper has created the most chances (15), won more tackles than any of them (15), completed the most successful passes (453) and enjoyed the best pass completion ratio (88%).

Over to you, Roy.