Ashley Cole named as assistant as Lee Carsley confirms new England backroom staff

Joleon Lescott and Tim Dittmer are also joining the senior team set-up after impressing as coaches of the Under-21s

Ashley Cole (left) has joined the backroom staff England’s interim manager Lee Carsley (right). (PA Wire/PA Wire)

Ashley Cole has joined Lee Carsley’s backroom staff and will assist England’s interim manager during his temporary spell in charge.

The former Chelsea and Arsenal left-back is one of only nine Englishmen to win 100 caps and now links up with the senior team for the first time as a coach.

Cole has worked successfully with Carsley for the England Under-21s, helping them to win the 2023 European Championships, and they will be reunited for the Nations League games against Republic of Ireland, Greece and Finland.

The 43-year-old is a first-team coach at Birmingham, where he was appointed by Wayne Rooney, after spells working under his former Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard at first Stamford Bridge and then Everton.

Joleon Lescott, who won 26 caps and joined Cole in the Euro 2012 squad, and Tim Dittmer, the FA’s head of coaching, are others of Carsley’s Under-21 staff who will support him as he is the temporary replacement for Gareth Southgate. Lescott played alongside Carsley for Everton while Dittmer is a former goalkeeping coach.

But Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has left his role as an England coach. The former Netherlands international was brought in by his old Middlesbrough teammate Southgate in 2023. Goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson is another departure but Paul Nevin will take interim charge of the Elite League Squad.

Meanwhile, in a shake-up of the coaching teams of the age-group sides, Tom Huddlestone will form part of Ben Futcher’s backroom staff for the Under-21s.

The 37-year-old, who won 33 caps for England at Under-21 level, has spent the last two years as player-coach of Manchester United’s Under-21s.

Huddlestone’s appointment stems from the England Elite Coach Programme (EECP), designed to give more opportunities to candidates from a diverse background, who had often been underrepresented in the past.