Toon ace Burn loves the biggest stages

WEST HAM V NEWCASTLE Premier League: Tomorrow 2pm

- BY LEE RYDER

FROM Blyth to Brent with a few quirky stop-offs in between, it's safe to say that Dan Burn's road to the brink of the World Cup has been an unusual one.

The 6ft 7in centre-back turned out for Blyth Spartans, Darlington, Wigan, Yeovil and Brighton, to name a few, before winning his first cap for England at the age of 33.

But the Newcastle defender finds himself in the mind of Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel on merit ahead of the finals and, as the proud owner of four caps, he could be rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest stars in the global game next summer.

The former Asda trolley collector's journey is richly deserved, but after scoring a historic and crucial header at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final last March that rocked Liverpool, the freeman of Northumberland is more than capable of replicating that on the big stage in North America.