Charlton Athletic manager Karl Robinson has claimed he was denied the chance to sign Harry Winks on loan at MK Dons in 2016.

In an exclusive interview with football.london, in which he praised the youngster as one of the best holding midfielders in England, the 37-year-old explained how he was blocked from bringing the player to Milton Keynes because of his style of play and lack of stand out physical attributes.

The coach, who handed Dele Alli his professional debut in 2012 and lead MK Dons into the Championship in 2015, also described his first impressions of Winks after they met while on holiday.

His comments come during an international break that has seen the attitude and professionalism of England players put under scrutiny after six members of Gareth Southgate's squad withdrew through injury.

(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Winks was spotted out at a Watford night club on the weekend after his country's 0-0 draw with Germany at Wembley and a picture was posted to social media by a rival fan intending to catch the player out.

Robinson recounted how he and his wife were left impressed by the young footballer after meeting him and held up Winks as an example of the sort of player England need but often miss out on.

"The interesting case I think in the country is Harry Winks," he said. "He's unassuming, goes about his business in a very quiet way. We share an agent, and I was on holiday once and he came up and introduced himself. 'Mr Robinson, I'm Harry Winks.' My wife said 'isn't he lovely?'"

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After being impressed by his good manners, Robinson attempted to strike a deal to bring Winks to Milton Keynes only to be rebuffed.

"I tried to get him on loan at MK Dons, but the head of recruitment at the time didn't think he was good enough," he said. "He's the perfect example of someone who could've been missed because he keeps it simple – the odd diagonal, forward passes, doesn't score, not 6’2”, not massively aggressive.

"Now he's one of the best holding midfielders in the country."

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