'Fearless' Myles Lewis-Skelly hailed after Arsenal & England breakthrough | OneFootball

Declan Rice labelled Arsenal and England team-mate Myles Lewis-Skelly as "fearless" after he scored on his full international debut against Albania.

A sumptuous through ball from Jude Bellingham, which penetrated through three Albanian players, landed at the feet of the onrushing Lewis-Skelly and he made no mistake to score the first goal of Thomas Tuchel's England reign.

An equally delicious finish from Harry Kane put the game to bed for the Three Lions, who never really needed to get out of first gear as Albania sat back in a low block and looked to minimise any space that England could exploit.

Lewis-Skelly's performance was one of the major talking points of the evening, building on what's been a whirlwind few months for the 18-year-old. Already a regular in Arsenal's side, keeping out the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Kieran Tierney, he already looks to be one of England's leading options at left-back – a position he has stumbled into playing after growing up as a central midfielder.

The way Lewis-Skelly conducts himself was highlighted by Arsenal and England colleague Declan Rice, who was confident that the youngster would again deliver on the big stage.

"He’s fearless, he does everything right off the pitch," Rice told ITV Sport. "He prepares himself. He’s only 18, I try to look after him as best I can but I knew he was going to play like that tonight because of the confidence he has in himself and the way he’s trained all week and what I’ve seen at the club, how he is around the club.

Thomas Tuchel congratulates Myles Lewis-Skelly on his performance / Robin Jones/GettyImages

"His mum, his dad, his brothers, everyone should be so proud of him because his rise this year’s been unreal and he’s kept his feet on the ground. This is only the start for him."

Standing alongside Rice, Lewis-Skelly admitted that he was "lost for words" for the opportunity to shine for England at Wembley. "I’m just so grateful for the manager to put trust in me and my team-mates played with great trust in me," he said. "I’m so happy, I’m lost for words."

Tuchel was equally as effusive in his praise for Lewis-Skelly, saying: "He was amazing in camp. He is full of confidence and very full of humour and such an open and mature character.

"Everything you see on the pitch you see off the pitch. He was straight away part of the group, it's very impressive. He does it with a natural confidence and this is how he plays football.

"It was a great performance and full of courage, full of quality and even more so that he could be with his little run behind the line and be decisive in this game for us."