Brighton manager Graham Potter won’t block Tariq Lamptey’s potential England U-21 call-up

Brighton and Hove Albion manager Graham Potter says he will not block Lamptey’s potential call-up to the England U21s after returning from a long-term hamstring injury.

The 20-year-old endured a difficult 2020/21 campaign due to injuries making only 11 appearances scoring just once for the club.

His season came to an abrupt end in March 2021 due to a hamstring injury. The last time he featured for the Premier League outfit was in December 2020.

The English-born Ghanaian recovered from a nine-month injury recently and featured against Swansea in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

He played the opening half of the 2-0 victory for the Premier League club.

The England U-21 trainer Lee Carsley is expected to name his squad for their games next month with Lamptey likely to make the cut even though he just returned from injury.

But according to Potter, he will prevent the enterprising right-back from joining the England U-21 team when given a call up.

‘I think it is something we have to be happy with because it means he is back playing, and he is fit,’ Potter said. ‘It is a conversation between Tariq, Lee and the medical guys.

‘We are always a club that supports international football and players playing for their countries, so we would be delighted with that.’

Potter revealed Lamptey’s emotions ranged from disappointment to anger during his injury absence and gave credit to his mental strength and character.

‘He is an amazing person, an amazing lad,’ Potter added.

‘Everyone here would just say the same, everyone loves him. When you have that feeling for someone you want everything to go well for him.

‘I must say how he has conducted himself, how he has worked, it is inspirational really to everybody. His resilience, his mental strength and his capacity to deal with adversity – I think that is credit to him and his family.’