He missed the 1957 FA Cup Final defeat to Aston Villa because of an eye injury, although he did collect a second successive league title medal that season and helped United reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. He played a total of 120 first team games for United (103 of them in the league), and scored once. He was selected in an England senior squad once, but did not take to the field. Many observers believe that he would have been capped by England had he not died at Munich. He came close to international action, having been selected on the substitutes' bench, but his hopes of a breakthrough were not helped by the fact that his career coincided with that of Billy Wright. He was seen by many observers as a likely successor to Wright in the centre of the England defence.