Nigel Pearson’s eight-word endorsement of Bristol City star’s England dreams

Nigel Pearson believes that Bristol City teenager Alex Scott will one day live his dream of representing the England national team. The 19-year-old spoke recently of his desire to represent the Three Lions.

In his downtime away from the Robins as a result of the World Cup, Scott returned to his native Guernsey to see family and friends. He took time out to speak to the local press and reiterated his desire to play in the Premier League and play for his country.

He has been inspired by Gareth Southgate’s men, which is made up of young stars like Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden. All three are playing regularly in the Bundesliga and the Prem, with them providing inspiration to Scott.

England remain hopeful of World Cup glory, but if it does not ‘come home’ this time, then there is EURO 2024 and the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA in 2026. In four years time, a bold prediction from those amongst those in City is that perhaps their star boy Scott could be at world football’s biggest tournament.

Scott is back at the building at the High Performance Centre and is preparing for Rotherham United in a cold icey December, but is it realistic to expect Scott to one day represent England at senior level?

“Yes, one word answer, he’s good enough, absolutely,” said Pearson in a relatively short response.

Pearson’s words reiterate what he said at the Fans Forum, admitting that after watching Scott train just once, he believed he would go on to play for England. It is a lot of expectation on a young teenager’s shoulders, but already he has overcome the hurdle of making it in the professional game, when the majority fall short.

Scott has already succeeded on the international stage, albeit at an age-grade level. He was part of the young Three Lions team that won the EURO Under-19’s Championship. Scott was mixing it with the likes of Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka and Man City’s Callum Doyle, who is on loan at Coventry City.

One player that Scott has sought advice from is Andy King, who is one of the best people at the club to seek knowledge from. King - now working as a player-coach under Pearson - won promotion from League One to the Premier League with Leicester.

He was part of the Foxes side that won an unlikely title in 2016 under Claudio Ranieri. In the same year, he played for Wales at EURO 2016, as they reached the semi-finals of the tournament, finishing above England.

“You don’t want to put pressure on your shoulders but I feel he could probably shoulder it,” admitted King when asked about setting a target of an England call-up was an achievable task.

“I’d imagine so but he knows as well as anyone you have got to go out on the pitch and keep performing. He has still got stuff to learn and he knows that I am on at him about scoring more goals, he knows he should contribute more in the final third.

“He’s got the talent to do that and that’s why we have got to try and push him as much as we can.”