Watch Cole Palmer awkwardly wait to shake hands with presenter during interview

Cole Palmer's England debut almost ended in spectacularly awkward fashion as he was left waiting on a handshake live on air.

The Chelsea ace was picked for a pitch-side chat on Channel 4's coverage after impressing in his first start for the Three Lions against Malta.

Palmer was determined to end his brief interview by shaking the hands of everyone on the punditry panel.

Joe Cole and Joleon Lescott quickly obliged, followed by former England striker Jermain Defoe, but host Jules Breach quickly got on with her presenting duties not realising Palmer wasn't leaving until she had shaken his hand.

'Almost* left him hanging,' Breach later tweeted, after finally putting Palmer out of his misery after a second or two.

Fans loved Palmer's humility and his unintentional humour as he smiled and walked off following Breach's handshake.

'He is quickly becoming my favorite Chelsea player,' one user on X posted.

'Cole Palmer is effortlessly funny,' a second wrote.

A third posted: 'More and more I love this boy.'

Palmer, 21, is quickly rising to the top of Chelsea's most important players and he is putting himself in position to make England's squad for Euro 2024.

While Gareth Southgate was pleased with his contribution against Malta, Defoe is already excited to see more.

Defoe told Channel 4: 'I'd loved to have seen him for longer, to be honest. You can just see, straight away, the way he received the ball on the half turn.

'He's a clever footballer. He gets 1v1. He's confident. You can see he's got that swagger.

'You talk about players like James Maddison who have got that good arrogance.'

He continued: 'I'm looking forward to seeing him more. He's definitely someone that you could say if he continues on this form for his club he'll definitely have a chance of going to the Euros.'