Euro 2020: England’s Mason Mount unsurprised by Billy Gilmour’s starring role for Scotland
The Chelsea team-mates went head-to-head in midfield at Wembley on Friday as the Scots held firm to draw with England.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mason Mount was unsurprised by Billy Gilmour’s starring role in Scotland’s Euro 2020 draw with England insisting his Chelsea team-mate continues to swim rather than sink on the big stage.
Gilmour was named man of the match as Scotland left Wembley with a well-deserved 0-0 draw to keep alive their hopes of qualifying from Group D.
The 20-year-old was left out of the side as Steve Clarke’s men lost their opener to the Czech Republic but was entrusted in the midfield against England, making his full senior debut in combative conditions.
Gilmour started just three Premier League games for Chelsea last season and picked up a Champions League winner’s medal as an unused substitute in the win over Manchester City.
His display against England earned him rave reviews but, for club-mate Mount, there was nothing unexpected by Gilmour’s performance.
“He didn’t surprise me, I know what he is like as a player,” said Mount.
He gets chucked in at the deep end sometimes and he is always swimming.
“We had a good battle and every time he plays he seems to get man of the match – he has done it the few times he played at Chelsea.
“He gets chucked in at the deep end sometimes and he is always swimming.
“I always watched his development and he is going to keep getting better and better and that is good for him personally, for the club and also at international level.”
While Scotland were praised for their performance, England were jeered off the pitch by a small minority of supporters.
Mount says the England players cannot be distracted by the negative reaction as the Three Lions now need to beat the Czech Republic on Tuesday night to top the group.
He added: “I have had a lot of boos in my short career, that is obviously from away fans or home fans!
“We just try to focus on ourselves and how we can improve, what areas of our game we can do better in.
“I think obviously we know how big the game was but the way we played, we tried to break them down and score goals.
“The way they set up, with five at the back, made it tough for us but we got the point and we move on now. Hopefully we win the next game and we are through.
“I think there is pressure on every game, we are England and are always looking to win every game and the performances we look to put in have to be top quality.”