Newcastle United defender Sven Botman's blunt response to high-profile critic

Sven Botman’s addressed his international hopes after establishing himself as a Premier League defender with Newcastle United.
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Botman helped the club beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 on Saturday to go fourth in the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s home game against Aston Villa.

The £35million summer signing “dreams” of playing for Holland in next month’s World Cup – and the 22-year-old has been named in Louis van Gaal’s provisional 39-man squad.

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"It's still my dream to get into the final selection,” said Botman, who withdrew from Holland’s Under-21 squad last month to “focus” on his club after being left out of Eddie Howe’s starting XI. "But I’m just focusing on every game I play now for Newcastle, and then we’ll see what happens. I have not spoken to the manager.”

Botman was asked about a comment from former Holland international Ibrahim Afellay after the Tottenham game. The former Barcelona midfielder claimed that Botman was "offensively not good enough".

"My response to him? I don't have a response to him,” said Botman. “Anybody can have a word these days, so I let my feet speak on the pitch."

Botman has let his feet do his talking in recent weeks in the Premier League’s tightest defence.

Newcastle United defender Sven Botman.Newcastle United defender Sven Botman.
Newcastle United defender Sven Botman.
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And the team maintained its impressive form at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"It was a great result for us,” said Botmam. “To come here and get three points is a big deal. Not a lot of people were expecting that, but we’re in really good form – and we showed good quality. It was a good day for us.”