Jarrad Branthwaite has thanked both Everton manager Sean Dyche and his parents after his first England call-up and admits his football career might never have got started if it wasn’t from the help of his mum and dad when he was an injured teenager who “couldn’t run.

” Branthwaite has been rewarded for a hugely-impressive breakthrough season at Goodison Park by being included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the upcoming high-profile Wembley friendlies against Brazil on Saturday and then Belgium on Tuesday. Since being picked for Everton’s third game of the campaign at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 26, the 21-year-old has been an ever-present in Sean Dyche’s side in the Premier League other than the 2-0 victory at Burnley on December 16 – the Blues’ last win in the competition – which he missed through suspension after picking up five yellow cards. Dyche’s faith in the prospect has proven to be a shrewd decision and asked about his Everton manager, Branthwaite said: “He’s good. He’s believed in me since the start of the season. “I’ve been in the team ever since so I can only thank him for the opportunity he’s given me. He’s a very hands-off manager who lets you learn the game and if he thinks any pointers need to be given he’ll tell me. “If you’d have said at the start of the season that I would be in the England squad then I probably wouldn’t have believed it, but that’s where I am now and I’m very happy to be here. I thought I’d be with the under-21s (during this international break) so I had nothing planned. But getting the call for the seniors was a dream come true.” Branthwaite became the first signing of Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton tenure when he arrived as a 17-year-old in January 2020 after just 14 first-team appearances for home city club Carlisle United. But a couple of years before that, there were serious doubts over whether he would even make it with the Cumbrians. During the dark days of being sidelined at a young age, still without a contract, the 6ft 5in defender praised the input of his parents for keeping him on track. Branthwaite said: “I had tendinitis in my knee. I was out for 18 months, couldn’t run, that was about when I was 15. So Carlisle weren’t going to give me a scholarship. They gave me a four-week trial period to basically see if I wanted it enough, and then they ended up giving me one, and then within two, three months I was given my first professional contract. “If it wasn’t for my mum and dad, I probably wouldn’t have carried on. In my mind, I was thinking, ‘if they don’t want me know, what’s four weeks going to do?’ Obviously I was at Carlisle since I was nine years of age, and I broke into the first team when I was 16. It gave me the desire to want it even more, and then once I signed for Everton it was just about progressing, learning every day and seeing where it was taking me.”