Roy Keane has branded Mason Mount's critics 'idiots' as the outspoken pundit lavished praise on the England midfielder's 'outstanding' performances for club and country.
Mount, 22, has proved himself undroppable by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, with the Chelsea star starting an eighth-successive England game for the clash with Poland at Wembley.
The midfielder was a cherished asset under former Blues boss Frank Lampard, while new manager Thomas Tuchel has taken a shine to the hardworking creative outlet.
Mount's selection in the England line-up has been called into question by his detractors, with critics calling for Aston Villa star Jack Grealish and Man City hotshot Phil Foden to start in his place.
But Keane has labelled those critics as 'idiots', with the Irishman lauding the vibrant Chelsea star before Wednesday's World Cup qualifier.
'Well that is pretty important, that your manager likes you,' he said of Mount winning favour under different managers on ITV Sport. 'Doesn't matter what people outside the game think, there are a lot of idiots out there.
'Ultimately, I think the players pick the team and he has performed well enough for every manager to say "listen you are going to be in my starting line up".
'Outstanding player. He wants to be an all round midfielder. I never hear anything negative about him off the pitch, he seems a brilliant young kid, he has gone out on loan he has done it the hard way.
'He is a fantastic player and I’m looking forward to seeing him tonight.'
Meanwhile, Ian Wright added that Mount's attitude and performances have won the trust of all of his managers, with the Arsenal legend hopeful that the Chelsea star's mentality will stand him in good stead.
'I like the way he has dealt with comparisons with other players,' Wright said. 'I think he brings different things. I think Gareth trusts him like Frank trusted him and like Tuchel trusts him.
'Defensively you can trust him and offensively you can trust him. He has done everything right.
'You just hope that he can continue doing what he is doing. His attitude and everything about him seems like he is heading in the right direction.'
Mount has scored six goals and provided six assists in 39 outings for Chelsea this campaign, with the youngster the Blues' standout player thus far.
ChelseaFCaddict
159
Point of correction Mason Mount was not the player he is today. Thanks to Thomas Tuchel he is a well oiled Matchine. on the issue of Mount criticism i think it depends and anyway I think criticism of any player is subjective some criticize because theu hate the player some however criticize because they can see his potential and therefore demand more from him because they know or atleast think he can do better than what they see or saw from the player. I feel Frank Lampard is the one to be blamed for mount critism look at what Thomas Tuchel, Tuchel made sure that all Chelsea FC Family see the importance of Mount in the team by benching him in his first game and he did that on purpose he did that knowing Mount's impact into the team so when he brought him back into XI all critism stopped that when everyone was satisfied that the team need mount that mount earned his place. so mount is not the problem here or was never the problem neither were the fans the problem was Frank Lampard about the manner in which he handled the mount issue. This shows how immature and inexperienced Lampard was
The_Striker_LITE
30
Mount has improved very well in the recent times
JayBee56
13
Mount is very clever on & off the ball. He's proved his worth under every manager he's played for because of his hard work & ethics off the field. He's definitely going to be a Chelsea & England legend.