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Rapid rise to fame no problem for Wheater
AS A defender who earned 57
caps for his country, Gareth
Southgate has seen enough to
suggest Middlesbrough defender
David Wheater will not be a oneseason
wonder.
The Redcar-born 21-year-old
has been one of the success stories
of what has been an otherwise
disappointing season for the
Teessiders.
His performances have not
only ensured the defender has become
an integral part of Southgate's
first-team plans, but
Wheater is now on the verge of
winning his first full England
cap.
The central defender has been
called up to Fabio Capello's
squad to face United States and
Trinidad and Tobago on May 27
and June 1 respectively.
If he does feature then it would
complete a remarkable 12
months for a player who ended
last season on loan at Darlington.
Tonight he is in international
duty for the under-21s against
Wales at Wrexham's Racecourse
Ground, where he is joined in
Stuart Pearce's squad by Middlesbrough
team-mates Andrew
Taylor, Adam Johnson and Lee
Cattermole, as well as Sunderland's
Grant Leadbitter.
Wheater has already been
warned of the perils of secondseason
syndrome' by Middlesbrough
coach Colin Cooper.
However, there is no doubt in
Southgate's mind that this season
was no flash in the pan for
the youngster.
If anything, the Boro boss expects
to see an improvement in
Wheater's game next season.
"He has been a major plus this
season and he is not someone
who thinks he can now rest on
his laurels," said Southgate.
"He doesn't think for a minute
he has made it. He just wants to
improve all the time and it is that
attitude which has got him this
far already.
"He is a young man with a
great future ahead of him. There
are no worries about him keeping
his feet on the ground because he
is very down to earth and all he
wants to do is play football and
continue to improve.
"He will be stronger and wiser
for the experience of having completed
a whole season in the Premier
League and he looks as
though he has enjoyed it."
Wheater admits he never expected
to become such an established
member of the Middlesbrough
first-team this season.
"He has been voted young player
of the year at the club and he
deserves every accolade that
comes his way," said Southgate.
"He has been amazing.
"Neither of us at the start of
the season thought it would happen.
"Wheats looked very good in
pre-season training and his performances
were excellent. He has
consistently put in good performances
and that has been the
key to his success.
"I think it has been a long season
for him and he has been running
on empty for a few weeks
now. Ideally I would have liked to
have taken him out for a time and
given him a rest but with the injuries
we have had that has not
been possible."
With the domestic season now
over, Wheater will hope to do his
international claims the world of
good when he wins his sixth cap
for the under-21s tonight.
He will be looking to catch
Capello's eye ahead of England's
friendly clash with the USA at
Wembley on May 28.
In March Wheater was called
up to Capello's provisional 30-
man squad to face France, but
missed the cut when it was reduced
to 23.
"The fact he has caught the eye
of the England manager tells you
all you need to know about him,"
said Southgate.
8:54am Thursday 15th May 2008
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