Dan Burn delays Newcastle cup celebrations as he targets England World Cup berth | OneFootball

Toon’s Wembley hero is eager to make an impression on Thomas Tuchel after maiden call-up in fairytale week

Dan Burn has no regrets over swerving Newcastle’s “rowdy” Carabao Cup party as he targets a belated England debut - and a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup plans.

The 32-year-old became an instant Toon hero when heading the opening goal in the Magpies’s 2-1 win over Liverpool, which ended the club’s 70-year trophy drought.

“It was strange,” Burn said. “As soon as I left the stadium, my focus had completely switched to this.

“I had my family there and my kids, so we ended up getting on the bus back at about 12 o’clock to the hotel and it was getting a bit rowdy, and I was just ready to go to sleep.

“There will be time to celebrate. I know that the club has put stuff out about there being a parade on the Saturday when we get back, so I think that’s when I’ll celebrate.

“But at the moment I knew that I’d waited a long time for this opportunity, and I didn’t want to spoil it.”

Celebration: Burn scored Newcastle’s first goal in their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Wembley

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Burn was on a longlist of 55 players contacted by Tuchel before he announced his first England squad last week and was informed by the German on Tuesday that he was in contention to make the 26-man cut.

However, having still not heard anything by Thursday evening, the defender assumed he had been overlooked, as was the case throughout Gareth Southgate’s reign.

“Then I got a text saying: ‘Are you still awake?’ at 10pm. I was like ‘yes’, straightaway,” Burn explained. “First of all, [Tuchel] said I was very unprofessional for not being in bed for 10pm!

“So, I apologised for that and then he said that he had been ringing everyone who hadn’t made the squad, so, again, I didn’t think I was making it.

“He just said he needed to sort of end the day on a good note, that he wants me to be in the squad.”

Burn, who can play at centre-back, left-back or on the left of a back three, has been touted for an England call at numerous points over the past few seasons, amid Southgate’s struggle to find cover for the injury-prone Luke Shaw on that side of defence.

Southgate instead used Kieran Trippier as a makeshift left-back during last summer’s European Championship and turned to younger players such as Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa when injury forced first-choice centre-back Harry Maguire out of the same tournament.

“I think I have been overlooked, but I understood it,” Burn said. “What Gareth did to bring England from where it was to where it has been, regularly competing in finals, showed that his method was very, very good.

“I did genuinely think at 32 that it had probably passed me by, but when a new manager came in, there was always that feeling of ‘you never know’.

England host Albania at Wembley on Friday in what will be Tuchel’s first game in charge, before meeting Latvia at the same ground next Monday.

Both games are qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with neither the Football Association (FA) nor Tuchel shying away from the fact that the former Chelsea boss has been appointed with the express aim of winning the tournament.

Earning a first England cap would round off what has been a remarkable week for Burn, but already he has set sights on being part of the push for glory next summer.

“I’d say last Monday it definitely wasn’t on my radar but now it’s got to be my ultimate aim,” Burn added. “I feel like there are going to be a lot of steps I’m going to have to go through to get there.

“Being in that very first camp is important but I don’t want to be here for no reason. I want to be here to improve and take my chances.”