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MATURING: Richards (Photo credit: Colin Patterson)

A WISE man once said every dog has its day; well that was clearly not the case for Manchester City’s full-back Micah Richards.

Richards was inexplicably omitted from the England squad that saw off the challenge of Spain and Sweden recently.

On the evening that the Three Lions party was announced by manager Fabio Capello, Richards wrote on his Twitter page: ‘Oh well, better luck next time, roll the sleeves up and work harder!’

It was a clear indication of his drive and commitment to break into the England team once again.

His last appearance for England came against France last year when Capello’s team lost 3-2.

The City defender’s last actual start for his country came against Croatia some four years ago.

ENGLAND HAVE TURNED THEIR BACK: Richards playing for England (Photo credit: Colin Patterson)

Football’s notorious grapevine suggests that Richards’s lack of positional sense has irritated Capello but the right-back stresses that there has hardly been any communication between him and the England manager.

However, recent stats have illustrated Richards’s superiority over every other England defender in the Premier League at present.

He has a tackling rate of 83 per cent in comparison to Glen Johnson’s 73 per cent, and if that’s not enough how about his attacking traits? Richards has produced four assists in comparison to Kyle Walker’s and Phil Jones’s one each. Richards has been immense in the right-back position for high flying City this term, and his recent display in the 6-1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford was the pick of the bunch.

Richards has always seemed destined for great things. The muscular defender burst onto the scene with a last minute headed equaliser in the FA Cup against Aston Villa in 2006. His moment of glory will be remembered too for other reasons. In his post match interview with the BBC’s Garth Crooks, the 17 year-old teenager, in his obvious excitement, swore on national television such was his elation.

Richards’s rise and rise has now seen him mature. Having started at the famous City academy at the age of 14, he was to captain the side against QPR this month.

Despite Sheikh Mansour’s millions being pumped into the club, Richards has proved to be a valuable asset to City, and has eventually cemented a first team spot in boss Roberto Mancini’s team.

Both Walker and Johnson are exemplary defenders with a lot to offer no doubt. But Richards’s consistency has been equal to the aforementioned.

If playing for the national side is based on form it is hard to discount Richards.
All he can do now is to play consistently well for a team in with a shout of winning all the big prizes come next May.

If he can do that – and grab positive headlines along the way – then he is likely to usurp both Walker and Johnson as England target Euro 2012 glory.