Off day for Burnley, but defence shine in front of Gareth Southgate - Newcastle United 0, Burnley 0: Chris Boden’s match verdict

And the Three Lions chief was in the stand at St James’ Park, as Taylor - up against Newcastle United’s on loan England international Danny Rose - won the battle of the left backs.

The 26-year-old said: “We’ve got a lot of good English players so hopefully he [Southgate] will come down and watch us.

“Obviously that’s up to him, but we’re on a great run, we’re in good form and everyone’s playing well.“

And he added: “We just said as long as you’re playing in the top league and performing in the best league in the world, you’ve always got half a chance.

“All you can do is perform week in, week out for your club and then what happens will happen.”

That is certainly the case at present for the former Leeds United man, and a number of his Clarets teammates.

Keeper Nick Pope looks a shoo-in for the next England squad, for the friendly internationals against Italy and Denmark at Wembley, before the squad is finalised for Euro 2020 on the same day as another warm up clash in Austria, sitting top of the golden gloves table with 11 clean sheets, one more than Liverpool’s Brazilian ace Alisson.

But could Taylor and more of Sean Dyche’s side gate crash the tournament?

James Tarkowski, with two caps to his name under Southgate, would be hard done by to miss out on the next squad on current form, standing out with his consistently high level of performance.

Surely the cultured Mancunian is the rightful heir to Harry Maguire, or even pushing the Manchester United skipper? Certainly you’d prefer Tarkowski, who has helped Burnley earn four shutouts in the last five games, to the likes of Tyrone Mings, playing in the leakiest defence in the league.

Bizarrely, there seems a consensus that Ben Mee’s chance has gone, in an era where ability on the ball is seemingly preferable to the day job at which he excels - keeping the ball out of the net.

Mee, who has represented his country at Under 19, 20 and 21 level - albeit when at the more fashionable Manchester City - would let no one down if called upon.

Taylor, however, is a player Sean Dyche feels should be at least on the radar of the England set up, and he must have caught Southgate’s eye on Tyneside.

While not at his rampaging best down the left in support of Dwight McNeil - another who is expected to be in a Three Lions squad, but the Under 21s for now - Taylor was instrumental in the side’s latest clean sheet, with two vital challenges in particular standing out.

First he denied lively Paraguayan forward Miguel Almiron from causing havoc on the byeline, timing his tackle to perfection, before a quite brilliant intervention to prevent the same player going clear - similar to the magnificent challenge which stopped Anthony Martial scoring at Old Trafford last month.

His current form must put him in contention, alongside the likes of current incumbent Ben Chilwell, Rose, Luke Shaw, Brandon Williams and Bukayo Saka.

Taylor is performing as well as anyone, in a team second in the form table, earning only a point less than Liverpool over the last six games.

Three of the midfield four qualify for England, with Jack Cork capped once, as was Jay Rodriguez up front, but this was a day where the back four stood strong.

The midfield struggled to keep the ball, or move it with sufficient pace, in a game where the Clarets just didn’t function as an attacking force.

When they don’t click going forward, however, they look solid at the back, and while there was a sense of frustration at not taking advantage of a distinctly ordinary Newcastle side, at a muted St James’ Park, if you can’t win, don’t get beat, and Burnley never really looked like conceding, bar a couple of hairy moments late on.

A goal-less draw made it 14 points from the last 18 available, and six unbeaten in the Premier League, in which time they have conceded only twice, to two more players Southgate will be looking at, in Leicester’s Burnley-born Harvey Barnes, and Southampton’s former Clarets striker Danny Ings.

Another point lifted Burnley to ninth, ahead of Sunday’s fixtures, to 38, with 10 games to go, and their European ambitions remain very much intact.

If they are to finish in and around their current position, or, indeed, any higher, they will need to retain that defensive solidity, and hope to make full use of their forward options.

This was a day when Matej Vydra and Rodriguez didn’t quite link up, but, again, there were promising signs in the first half, while the return of top-scorer Chris Wood is also welcome.

He came on before the hour and showed the desire to make an impact, and with Ashley Barnes closing in on a return to fitness, Dyche certainly won’t be short of firepower moving forward.

It will be interesting to see which pairing is preferred as the Clarets look to give their hopes of a second top 10 finish in three seasons a huge lift by beating Spurs at Turf Moor on Saturday, and avenging one of the more forgettable performances of the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December.