Kobbie Mainoo has been told that he deserves to earn his first call-up to the senior England squad ahead of next month's friendlies given his scintillating season for Manchester United.

The midfielder is now one of the first names on the teamsheet despite his tender age of 18 and scored his first Premier League goal - a stoppage-time winner - against Wolves earlier this month.

His composure and competence on the ball has got analysts raving, and a number of former England stars are urging Gareth Southgate to hand the teenager his international break in March's friendlies with Brazil and Belgium. One of those is Micah Richards, who pinpointed one incident that showed the character of Mainoo.

While he is cautious about placing too much pressure on the youngster so early on in his career, the former 13-cap England defender says the way Mainoo has bounced back from a mistake which led to the second goal in the 2-0 defeats to West Ham on December 23 speaks volumes about the player's mettle.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Richards said: "It's just his composure. When it was getting a bit frantic [against Luton], he was the only able to get on the ball and be calm possession.

"Regarding England, it's a tough one. On ability, I'd 100 per cent take him. Because he's dealt with the pressure of playing for Man United - a couple of games back, he made a mistake that led to a goal [vs West Ham] but he bounced back from that so you see his true character there.

"The only thing is, if we rush him too soon, is that going to spoil him? Is that going to be too much pressure?"

He added: "I was listening to an interview with Jose Mourinho and he was saying that what's special about Jude [Bellingham] is that he's played his football away from the English media hype. He's able to go about his business without that much pressure.

"I just worry that if [Mainoo] was able to go and play and do well, are we going to put too much pressure on him? I do agree, in that position, apart from Rice, there's probably nobody playing better so it is a bit of a conundrum."

Host Gary Lineker says Mainoo is "so impressive and mature" in his performances while fellow former England striker Alan Shearer added: "The way he's come in and handled it so easily has to be a great positive to go against what Micah is saying [about pressure]. He has to be in [Southgate's] thoughts."