SAINTS boss Will Still insisted young goalkeeper Dylan Moody deserves to play at the World Cup following a difficult month for his family.
Moody, 17, is the son of Rugby World Cup winner Lewis Moody, who recently revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
England have called up Saints shot-stopper Moody for next month's U17 World Cup, and the teenager will travel to Qatar in the coming days.
Moody is highly rated at Southampton, having trained and travelled with the first team during pre-season and the early stages of this season.
On his call-up, Still said: "It's brilliant. Everyone knows it's probably not been the easiest time in the past month, month and a half.
"He started off with us during our pre-season and has done really well with the under-21s, and if anyone deserves to play a World Cup, he definitely does.
"The human experience away from the football is great for players of his age and people of his generation. Good luck to him."
England face Venezuela in their opening group stage game on November 4, before further fixtures against Haiti (November 7) and Egypt (November 10).
Neil Ryan's side are looking to become the second English group to win the U17 World Cup by repeating what Steve Cooper's Young Lions did in 2017.
Moody signed his first professional contract with Saints over the summer, penning a deal that will keep him at the club until 2028.
On his involvement with the first-team, he told the Daily Echo: "I have had really good experiences, it's just good to be with them most days for training and just seeing how they work.
"You see how they prepare to play, so it's good to be around, and really good to learn a lot off them. I am lucky to have them support me.
"Obviously, they are testing me some of the time [as a young lad], but not really, we're all the same. We look out for each other and after each other.
"They're always trying to help, and when they see something that I am not doing right or can improve, they'll help me to do it better next time.
"The best advice has been to just do it my way, not to look at them, see what they're doing and try to change my game. Know what I do best and do that."
