Thomas Frank tempts fate with reason for why Ivan Toney should be included in England World Cup squad

The Brentford boss thinks Toney should be on the plane to Qatar

Brentford boss Thomas Frank believes that Ivan Toney should be in Gareth Southgate's England squad for the World Cup this winter because of his penalty-taking record. Toney converted his 18th penalty in as many attempts as he scored a hat-trick in the 5-2 win against Leeds last weekend, bringing his total goalscoring record at Brentford to 50 from 96 appearances. With the World Cup a couple of months away - and an international break on the horizon - Frank believes that his star man has done enough to earn a call-up to the squad, insisting that Harry Kane is the only English player who is better on current form. He said: "Off the top of my head, looking at strikers on form, Harry Kane is number one but there is not a better striker after Kane on form. "I don’t see a better one. Plus England have been in a few penalty shootouts and if they want to win one they need to pick Ivan. "In my opinion he is the best penalty taker in the world."

Toney's teammates backed up their boss' claims and said that they would be thrilled to see the forward compete at the World Cup. "If England were 0-0 in a World Cup group match, I would be buzzing for him to come on off the bench. But it’s not me making the decisions!" said Josh Dasilva, via the Daily Mail. Meanwhile Bryan Mbeumo also added: "Looking ahead to the World Cup, I absolutely believe he would add something new and different to the strikers that England have." Related links: