Kevin Kilbane Tips Hull City Defender Turner For England

Hull City midfielder Kevin Kilbane has highlighted the outstanding performances of Tigers' centre-back Michael Turner this campaign, and thinks that the young defender is good enough to warrant international recognition.

Fabio Capello's coaching team have twice contacted the Yorkshire outfit to check on the progress of Turner's injuries, according to local media sources, and it seems likely that he would be in the Italian's current party for the games against Slovaki and Ukraine were it not for a thigh strain.

"I think he's capable of stepping up, I've been really impressed with him," Kilbane told The Hull Daily Mail.

"He's a goal-threat in the opposition area but defensively, he's big and strong and good in the air.

"He's got decent feet for a big man and he'll be an asset to Hull City over the next couple of years. It's nice to see him getting the credit."

Turner was discarded by Charlton Athletic as a teenager, but could be in line for his second successive Player of the Season award at the Humberside club, and Kilbane has been impressed by what he has seen so far, even though the Republic of Irealnd man only signed for Hull in January.

"He's developing all the time" he added. "You sometimes never know until you do make the step up to the Premier League how players are going to react.

"But he seems to have adapted to the step up well. Nothing has fazed him this year.

"He certainly looks like a very good Premier League footballer. You might think he's one for the future but he's one for right now, that's how good he is."

Zack Wilson, Goal.com