Quiet, thoughtful and unassuming, Joleon Lescott has never been your typical England centre half.

One look at the profound messages tattooed across his torso or a few minutes in the company of the softly-spoken boy from Birmingham will tell you that.

Then again, the 29-year-old who claimed his first international goal to give England the lead in Monday’s draw with France has spent most of his life surprising people.

There were those who thought he might not survive, let alone pursue a career in football, after a childhood accident left him with massive head injuries.

‘I know there was a time when my mum and dad didn’t think it would turn out as well as it has done, put it that way,’ Lescott once said. ‘But thankfully the doctors worked their magic. I have a scar but I have nothing to worry about.’

Lescott often conceals it under a hat, which has become something of a fashion item for a player who launched his own label in April with brothers Aaron and Jordan.

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