Cahill lauds Wilshere class

England defender Gary Cahill believes Jack Wilshere will not be affected by the hype surrounding his return to international football.

The Arsenal midfielder was named man of the match in England’s 2-1 victory over Brazil at Wembley on Wednesday and Cahill is delighted to see the playmaker’s progression since playing alongside him at Bolton.

The 27-year-old told reporters: “I had the pleasure of playing with Jack at Bolton for a short while, so I know he is quality, and he’s improved a lot since then.

“What he showed tonight was that he’s come of age. I saw him play for Arsenal against Barcelona in the Champions League and he was great, and tonight he was fantastic again.

“He has that knack of being able to just ghost past players. It was great to watch him do it to Brazilians.”

Cahill believes Wilshere will stay grounded, despite drawing all the plaudits, and suggested Steven Gerrard is the perfect mentor for him.

“Jack will just keep going,” he said. “That is the sort of character he is. He won’t let it faze him and he won’t listen to any hype.

“It is easy to forget that he is still very young. He will continue to improve for England playing alongside Stevie Gerrard.”

Cahill’s own performance against the South Americans, however, was not one of his best – the defender gifted the ball to Fred in the build-up to Brazil’s goal before his poor control almost saw the forward bag a second.

“I was very pleased with the way I played, but such is the nature of my position you can be playing well for 89 minutes then make a mistake like that, it spoils your night,” he said.

“I will smile about it after a couple of days, but at the moment it is preying on your mind.

“You make a mistake and you get on with it. There is nothing else you can do. It was an obvious mistake and not something you can work on in the training ground.

“It is out of character for me. That is the most annoying thing. I know to be safer than that so to make a decision like that was poor.”