Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed two-goal skipper Steven Caulker after victory over Fulham.
The centre-back rose to the occasion in a crucial 3-1 win, opening the scoring with a close-range finish before rising unmarked at the back post to regain Cardiff's lead 22 minutes later.
"I just want him to focus on his performances here because if he plays this way defensively and he keeps chipping in with the odd goal he has got to be in with a shout (for the World Cup)," Solskjaer said.
"He is 22 years of age and he is a leader who is very talented, he has had a very testing season and when it comes to Cardiff he knows he will be fighting for survival and that is a big ask.
"He could have had an easy life at Spurs probably, playing x amount of games but he has taken on a great test and is maturing all the time.
"It is great to see him taking on a lot of the leadership roles because of Huds' (Cardiff captain Mark Hudson) absence."
