Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan says the families of England's best youngsters shouldn't be pushing their sons to sign with the Premiership's "big boys".

The former Blackburn Rovers player told the Guardian: "I do think our national team is suffering from a lack of English players playing in the Premier League but that, surely, is because we are not producing the right players from an early age.

"Any time we get a good youngster at Wigan their families want to take them to Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United or Manchester City, but they are not doing their sons any favours. What a lot of parents don't realise is that their kids have enormous competition just to get into the reserve team at some clubs. They shouldn't sign for the big boys. They should sign for local clubs."