LUKE TROTMAN’S England C debut was a proud moment not only for the player and his family, as Darlington manager Tommy Wright also took pride in seeing the defender pull on a Three Lions shirt.

The 21-year-old played in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw against a Wales XI for the England non-league team, a match staged at Salford City’s stadium.

Wright attended, and he said: “Luke was outstanding.

“I left the ground really proud of him for how he played and that fact he represented the club so well. It was a win-win.

“He knew I was there and thanked me for going. I was never going to miss his debut, and it was a great moment for him.”

Trotman sustained a badly broken leg in 2014 while at Luton Town, for whom he had made his senior debut as a 16-year-old.

He is now in his second year of a banking, finance and management degree, combining his studies with being a first-choice in Darlington’s side – he is the only player not to miss a match this season.

Wright added: “He had a leg break and then went into education, so playing on Tuesday just gave him that extra bit of reassurance that he made the right decision to come away from full-time football and do a degree.

“But I don’t expect Luke to be playing for us in three years’ time, and if he is that means he has not fulfilled his potential.

“He has not got a for sale on his head, we are not looking to sell him. But if a team came in with an offer then we’d have to look at it because that’s where we are as a club.”

Trotman will start Saturday’s match at Nuneaton, the club he left to join Darlington in November 2017 soon after Wright had made the same move.

Terry Galbraith and Romal Palmer should both play after recovering from injuries, while midfielder Joe Wheatley trained on Thursday for the first time since suffering an injury at Telford on March 5.