Eric's ideal start

It’s certainly a case of so far, so good for Eric Dier.

The young defender joined us on July 31 hoping to play his part this season.

Little did he imagine than that he’d be an instant hero with fans after scoring a last-minute winner at West Ham on his debut!

Eric followed up with a goal on his home debut against QPR and his whole-hearted displays at right-back have really caught the eye.

“I remember sitting here just after I arrived at the club and saying that I would be happy to get a chance to play and I think I’ve taken my chance, so I’m delighted,” said Eric.

“When you get the opportunity you have to impress the manager and all the younger lads have done that, and helped the team, which is most important.

“I try and do my best every time I play and hopefully that’s good enough. I try to make sure every time I walk off the pitch I’ve given my best.”

That was certainly the case on international duty this week as Eric, Harry Kane, Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard helped England reach the European U21 Finals with a 4-2 aggregate play-off win against Croatia.

“That was the objective at the start of the season,” added Eric. “It was great to get the two wins and now we can look forward to the finals.”

England will be joined by Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Serbia and hosts Czech Republic in the finals in June, 2015.