10 dark horses for England's 2018 World Cup squad 

Nick Pope
Nick Pope

#3 James Tarkowski (Burnley)

Manchester City v Burnley - Premier League
James Tarkowski

The last time England were gearing themselves up for a World Cup, a 20-year-old James Tarkowski was a world away from Roy Hodgson's plans, as he was plying his trade at then-League One side, Brentford.

One promotion, two Championship seasons and a £6 million move to Premier League side Burnley later, he could find himself in the reckoning.

He started to make a name for himself in Lancashire immediately and in the opening three months of this season, started getting more attention. Already this season he has been named Man-of-the-Match on two occasions and, to help his PR, both of those games were televised.

As well as the two 1-0 wins, at home to Crystal Palace and away at Everton, to which those two Man-of-the-Match awards apply, Tarkowski has helped his side to a further two clean sheets in the league, making it four from 10.

Born in Manchester, Tarkowski is also eligible to play for Poland through his paternal grandfather, who was born in Poland and moved to England after the Second World War.

Tarkowski has stated on record that he is holding out for England rather than Poland, although patience can quickly run out if he is continuously overlooked.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram
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