Norwich City hot shot Mo Toure can lead the Championship charge at the World Cup for ex-England striker Kevin Phillips.
Toure gets his campaign underway with Australia in the early hours of Sunday morning (UK time) against Turkey.
The 22-year-old is expected to be fit to lead the Socceroos’ attack after missing training earlier in the week with reported illness.
Toure produced 12 goal contributions in his first 11 league appearances for the Canaries following a mid-winter switch from Denmark.
Five-time promotion winner and now pundit Phillips believes ‘top player’ Toure can have a break-out World Cup if he carries on in the same vein.
“It’s brilliant, isn’t it, to see Championship players get to the World Cup; great experience. It’s going to be really interesting to see who does step up, who takes that opportunity to perform on the biggest stage,” he said, with the English second tier providing 36 players at this summer’s expanded tournament.
“The biggest one for me would probably be Mohamed Toure from Norwich. He had a cracking back end of season. He’s a very exciting young talent. He’s going to be representing Australia so I’d love to see him stand out. There’s a big talk about him being a top player, which we know he is, and I’ve spoken about him many times.
“I think you look at (Abdul) Fatawu as well, at Leicester, an opportunity for him to step up. Brandon Thomas-Asante, as well, I know he’s been promoted, but again, another player for Ghana. He’s going to be playing against England, as is Fatawu.
"What an opportunity when you play against England. Every eye in the world is going to be watching.
“These types of players have got an absolute opportunity on the world’s biggest stage to step up. But the biggest one I’m really looking forward to watching is Toure.”
Phillips feels City boss Philippe Clement will have a job on his hands next season in the striker department, with fit-again Jovon Makama vying with Toure, and the likes of Mathias Kvistgaarden and Ante Crnac all in the mix.
“It's difficult, it's really difficult because all of them want to play. Personally, I never really had that issue because I always played in a pair,” he said. “It's only probably late on in my career that I played a few times up on my own. It's difficult, you know, because you have to perform every week. If you don't, there are two strikers behind you waiting to get in.
"So, keeping everyone happy is the hardest thing a manager can do. But nowadays, some strikers are able to play out on the wing and some managers enjoy having them out there. We've seen it over the years.
"So, whether he utilises the players that way or he just tells them plain and simple at the beginning of the season: I'm going to rotate you, get used to it. If you don't, then we can move you on. So, yes, it's difficult, but it's better to have that than not have that; that's for sure.”
Phillips is a weekly columnist for the Best Betting Sites where he gives his Championship match predictions.
