Stones sees roots of success and vows not to be a turnip

JOHN STONES has no intention of losing to the Swedes and being made to look like a turnip.

It is quite the opposite, in fact – because the England ace has backed Gareth Southgate’s men to come home with the World Cup.

The Three Lions have taken Russia 2018 by storm after making the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.

Southgate’s charges will take on Sweden in Samara tomorrow looking to go one step closer to the ultimate dream of winning the biggest prize in football.

The England boss has been keen to dampen expectation and has made it clear that looking too far ahead is a big mistake.

But nothing is going to stop Stones from thinking big – and he admits he isn’t interested in going back to England as a gallant loser.

The centre-back, who was a revelation in Tuesday’s dramatic win over Colombia, said: “I’ve said it from the start – I’d love to win the World Cup. That’s what we want to do. We are playing to try to win it.

“There’s no point just taking part. We’re looking to have something there that you can take with both hands and win it.

“It’s been a long time since we last won it and we want to make people back home proud of the England team.

“We are one step closer to doing that, but we know we have games ahead of us. But the dream is there, so why not?”

Stones insists England have done their homework on Sweden and will not underestimate a team who have reached the last eight of a World Cup for the first time in 24 years.

He knows his rivals will be organised, but has urged the Three Lions to take a glorious chance to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1990 – before he was even born.

Stones added: “There are no easy games. I think if you say it’s an easy game in a quarter-final of a World Cup then you are pretty stupid to say that.

“They’ve got a lot of quality. They play very structured from the back, and sit quite deep from what we’ve seen. We know what we’re up against.

“Sometimes they can throw you, these teams. They can go kind of under the radar.

“But there is no question they are a good team. They wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t. So we will show them the respect we do every team.

“We’re doing our research on them to make sure we take advantage of every opportunity and we’ll see where it takes us.”

Sweden have led the mind games after claiming all the pressure is on England, but Stones is not falling for it and insists there is just as much expectation on their opponents.

He said: “They are playing it down, aren’t they?

“I’ve said before, we can’t underestimate Sweden.

“I think everyone has seen that now and they are not going to be able to hide away from what qualities they have got.

“We all know what qualities they have got. They are a good team.

“And we have to respect that and make sure that we do our research.

“They wouldn’t be where they are without quality and without having that hunger to get where they are.

“That sounds like a good team to me.

“And we will do everything we can to make sure we are fully prepared to play against them.

“They are kind of putting all the pressure on us.

“But they are in the same situation. They are in the quarter-finals. It will be a great match.”