Brighton and Hove Albion manager Graham Potter has disclosed that he will prevent Tariq Lamptey from joining England U21s after returning from a long-term hamstring injury.
The English-born Ghanaian recovered from a nine-month injury recently and featured against Swansea in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
He played the opening half of the 2-0 victory for the Premier League club.
Lamptey, who is wanted by the Black Stars is in line to make the England U-21 as coach Lee Carsley prepares to announce his squad for their matches in October.
Despite only returning from a long-term injury, the Brighton manager says he will not stand in the way of Ghana prospect Tariq Lamptey should he earn a call-up for England U21 duty.
'I think it is something we have to be happy with because it means he is back playing, and he is fit,' Potter said. 'It is a conversation between Tariq, Lee and the medical guys.
'We are always a club that supports international football and players playing for their countries, so we would be delighted with that.'
Potter revealed Lamptey's emotions ranged from disappointment to anger during his injury absence and gave credit to his mental strength and character.
'He is an amazing person, an amazing lad,' Potter added.
'Everyone here would just say the same, everyone loves him. When you have that feeling for someone you want everything to go well for him.
'I must say how he has conducted himself, how he has worked, it is inspirational really to everybody. His resilience, his mental strength and his capacity to deal with adversity - I think that is credit to him and his family.'
The 20-year-old endured a difficult 2020/21 campaign due to injuries making only 11 appearances scoring just once for the club.
His season came to an abrupt end in March 2021 due to a hamstring injury. The last time he featured for the Premier League outfit was in December 2020.