Mason Mount criticism harsh, says England team-mate Declan Rice

Mason Mount and Declan RiceReuters

Mason Mount and Declan Rice - who was at Chelsea when he was younger - have known each other since they were children

Declan Rice has defended lifelong friend and England team-mate Mason Mount, saying he would get in any team in the Premier League.

Midfielder Mount's status as a regular for Frank Lampard's Chelsea and Gareth Southgate's England has been repeatedly questioned by some on social media.

"I know what his mentality is like. I know how driven he is," West Ham's Rice said of the fellow 21-year-old.

"It is no surprise that Gareth picks him and Frank picks him."

Rice added: "I think if you give every Premier League manager the chance to pick him, they pick him as well.

"If you see day in, day out what he gives to the team as an individual, he's a top talent.

"The criticism is very harsh."

Some of the criticism of Mount - who has 11 caps - appears to focus around him starting for England instead of in-form Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish.

Mount and Grealish started together in England's 3-0 friendly win over the Republic of Ireland on Thursday.

"There's always going to be comparisons but they pretty much play in two different parts of the pitch," said Rice, who also has 11 caps but was an unused substitute against the Republic.

"Mason now, at Chelsea, is playing as an attacking number eight and Jack is playing off the left.

"You could see the other night that they can both play in the same team for sure and they're both great players that I think we should be valuing.

"For the nation, and for me as someone who gets to play with these players, we're lucky that we get to play with such talents."

England play Belgium on Sunday (19:45 GMT kick-off) and Iceland on Wednesday (19:45) in Nations League games.

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