Newcastle defender Dan Burn on England call-up: I’m not here to be a cheerleader - I want to play

England new boy Dan Burn has insisted he is not joining up with Thomas Tuchel's squad just to make up the numbers and has the “ultimate aim” of playing in the 2026 World Cup.

Defender Burn has enjoyed an unforgettable few days that has seen him called up by England for the first time before going on to help hometown club Newcastle end a 70-year wait to win a domestic trophy.

On Friday, the 32-year-old was one of the surprise names in Tuchel's first squad ahead of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley Stadium.

Just two days later, it was Burn's towering header that put Newcastle in front on the way to a 2-1 League Cup final victory over Liverpool, in which the 2.01 metre-tall centre-half's performance earned him the man-of-the-match award.

While Tyneside went into party mode after securing their first domestic trophy since the FA Cup in 1955, Burn had to shift focus to England ahead of joining up with the squad on Monday morning.

And the player released by Newcastle's academy as a teenager but rejoined in 2022 had made it clear that he has big ambitions now that he has finally made the national team squad.

“I've waited a long time for this opportunity and I didn't want to spoil it,” said Burn in Monday's press conference

“He [Tuchel] said I've been playing well for a long time. I'm not just coming in to be a cheerleader – I want to play.

“You need to be given those opportunities. Now I want to make the most of it and get on the pitch as much as possible.

“I'm trying to take it camp by camp and make a big impression as I can and try make the next camp. Every little kid's dream is to play in a World Cup.”

It has been a fairy-tale story for Burn who played non-league football with Blyth Spartans and Darlington before working his way back up the football pyramid and joining top-flight Brighton in 2018.

A dream move back to Newcastle materialised in January 2021 when Eddie Howe made him one of his first signings having taken over as manager two months earlier, as the club's new Saudi Arabian-led consortium invested heavily to stave off the threat of relegation.

Since then, Burn has been an integral part of Howe's side that has played Uefa Champions League football for the first time in two decades and now earned its place in club folklore following Sunday's triumph.

But it is those days playing in the lower leagues that helped mould Burn into the player and person he is now. “It made me resilient,” he said.

“I have not had a straight-line trajectory in my career. It has been up and down from making my Premier League debut at 21 – three years later I was released by Fulham.

“I don't care about people's opinions – I know what I'm good at.

“I feel like I have been doubted a lot over my career. Not many people at Darlington would have said I'd be sitting here doing a press conference for England, but as I said it has made me more resilient. I feel I deserve to be here.”

Burn has been a reliable performer for Newcastle both at left-back and centre-half, helping the Magpies finish fourth and then seventh in the Premier League.

They are currently sixth in the table and very much in the running for a return to Champions League football next season.

Despite his consistency at the back – he has been pretty much an ever-present for Newcastle, making 139 appearances since joining – an England call-up never materialised under previous manager Gareth Southgate.

“I think I have been overlooked, but I understood it – what Gareth did to bring England where it was to where it is now,” Burn said.

“In my opinion, he treated it more like a club, which worked well for them. It wasn't like it was back in the day.

“It was about the togetherness, but that worked against me a little bit. So, when the new manager came in, it was kind of a new slate.

“Luckily, the new manager has taken a chance on me and I want to grasp the opportunity.”

When asked whether he thought his England chance had gone, Burn added: “I think so. There was a little bit of chat around the World Cup 2022 when I was playing left-back. I had never played any international football, which worked against me.

“I did think it had passed me by at 32. When the new manager came in it was that feeling of 'you never know'.”