SOUTHGATE YOU’RE THE ONE...

Having captained Sir Gareth’s England Under-21s to Toulon glory, can Ward-prowse star at this summer’s Nations League Finals, too?

You got a late call-up for the March internationals, due to injuries. How did you find out? I’d gone out for a jog with Fraser Forster and then got a call from our physio, making sure I was 100 per cent fit. I was panting, ‘I’ve just got in from round the block!’ It was a bit of a strange way to find out, but an amazing opportunity to be around such a young, vibrant, talented group. And I finally got a competitive England cap, which was nice. You know Southgate well after skippering the U21s. Is he any different with the senior side? He’s the same. A lot of methods he used to bring the whole team together off the field are exactly the same, in terms of activities with the lads and a leadership group. On the pitch, along with assistant Steve Holland, they go

through the match details really well. There’s no stone unturned. It feels like there’s a direct path from the U21s now, so does he actively stress that? Yeah. When we had U21 games where lads would be pushed up to the first team, he’d say, ‘Look, here’s an example of it, we have to continue what we’re doing and that’ll come.’ When I look at the senior team now, there’s countless players I played with at U21 level. It’s good for young players, that path being there. Set-pieces are crucial for this England team. Is your prowess at them a big selling point? It could be a factor, but there are so many players for every position, which is good and bad for the manager. He’s got a lot of hard decisions to make. It’s just good to be in contention.