Lee Carsley’s England U21 replacement is 6ft 7in defender who made name in Manchester

Lee Carsley’s replacement as England Under-21s boss made his name in Manchester.

With Carsley in temporary charge of the senior squad for the Nations League games against Ireland and Finland, Manchester-born Ben Futcher has been getting his feet under the table as interim boss of the under-21s, who face Northern Ireland tonight (Friday) and Austria on Monday.

The 43-year-old – the son of Paul Futcher and nephew of Ron Futcher, who both played for Manchester City in the late-70s – has stepped up from leading the Three Lions' under-20s squad. Futcher started his playing career with Oldham before dropping out of the Football League with Stalybridge Celtic, then one of Greater Manchester’s premier non-league clubs.

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In 2002/03, Futcher got his big break back in the Football League with Lincoln under Keith Alexander, the future Bury director of football and Macclesfield manager. Futcher scored 11 goals that season, including one in the Division Three (now League Two) play-off final defeat to Bournemouth.

After spells at Boston, Grimsby and Peterborough, Futcher returned to the north-west with Bury, where he made more than 100 appearances and was part of the squad which won promotion from League Two in 2011. He then went into coaching, initially with the Shakers, where he started out working with the club’s young players and youth team graduates.

While not a household name himself, Futcher comes from a footballing family. He is a cousin of former Liverpool and England midfielder Danny Murphy, who counts Paul as one of his biggest