Stuart Pearce expects more improvement from Callum McManaman and admits the Wigan winger's absence from last summer's European Under-21 Championships was a huge blow to the Young Lions' hopes of success.
- Eurosport - Callum McManaman is on England's radar
McManaman has been catapulted back into the public domain after England boss Roy Hodgson claimed the youngster is one of the few players who could force their way into his World Cup plans after making no contribution in the qualification campaign.
The view was more startling given McManaman has not been a regular starter in the Championship this season after taking time to recover from an ankle injury suffered at Arsenal in May that ended his hopes of being part of Pearce's Under-21 squad.
Yet Pearce remains a huge fan of the 22-year-old, and knows there is still much more to come from him.
Speaking on behalf of FA Cup sponsors Budweiser, Pearce said: "Callum is only a young man and the injury he had will take him time to fully recover from.
"Without a doubt he can improve even more.
"People forget I went to the Under-20 World Cup in 2012 and worked with him then, so I had that connection with him.
"I knew what the kid was like and I knew how well he had done.
"The natural progression was the Under-21s and we monitored him a fair bit at Wigan but he never actually pushed into the first team or went on loan so we didn't have an opportunity to have a good close look.
"Then all of a sudden he has come on the scene at the back end of last season.
"He was a big miss for us in the summer. He would have had a real impact at the tournament."
McManaman has struggled to recapture the form that earned him the man-of-the-match award in last season's historic FA Cup final win over Manchester City at Wembley.
Yet it still remains something of a surprise that a player capable of such brilliance as he produced that day should not start a league game for the struggling Latics until that infamous appearance against Newcastle in March when he should have been sent off for an awful tackle on Massadio Haidara.
"Sometimes players just come into form at certain times," said Pearce.
"It was the same with me. How do I spend five years in non-league football and end up captaining England?
"People might say everyone missed him but sometimes it takes time to develop.
"Callum was one of them."
It does seem unlikely McManaman could force his way onto the plane for Brazil.
However, he has the advantage of being exposed to European combat through Wigan's ongoing participation in the Europa League.
"It is always nice when anybody is complimentary about your players and it would give anybody a boost if the national manager mentions your name," said Wigan boss Owen Coyle.
"But Callum's focus has to be Wigan.
"If he continues to play well here there will certainly be more than the national manager being complimentary about him."
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