SHAW: I HAVE LET ENGLAND DOWN

LUKE SHAW has vowed to seize his second chance with England, after fearing he had squandered his international career with some decisions he deeply regrets. On the back of a superb season for Manchester United, Shaw played the full 90 minutes against Albania on Sunday. It was his ninth cap, but it came seven years and three weeks after his England debut. Shaw has always been highly regarded by the FA but has a history of pulling out of squads with fitness issues. The tipping point came three seasons ago.

First, he withdrew from Nations League games against Croatia and Spain in October 2018. Then he pulled out of the March 2019 squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro, leading to a two-year absence. During that time, Shaw (right) wondered if he would play for England again. ‘I had a few massive regrets,’ said Shaw, 25, whose cross led to Harry Kane opening the scoring in Tirana. ‘I could not stop thinking about the mistakes I had made in the past. With England, I pulled out of a lot of camps. Over the last two years, I have thought about it so much with regret. ‘Letting Gareth down… I tried to keep in touch with him, to let him know things had changed. He said (this time) he had picked me on merit and the past was the past. ‘Hopefully we have forgotten about that now. I want to keep impressing him.’ Asked for examples of how he had let Southgate down, Shaw replied: ‘Pulling out of camps was the biggest. Maybe I wasn’t right mentally. The last time I played was Spain (at Wembley in September 2018). I wasn’t playing for my club much but it showed he trusted me. ‘In the World Cup, you could see how good they were doing and how good the squad is becoming. I wanted to get back involved with England. I’m just really privileged to get another chance.’