Pain over for Winks

HARRY WINKS admits beating Spain has helped ease the pain of his World Cup injury nightmare.

The Tottenham ace was on the road to Russia after impressing on his England debut in Lithuania 12 months ago.

Winks, 22, was establishing himself in the Spurs side and expected to be included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the summer tournament.

But a serious ankle injury derailed his plans, forcing him to have an operation and become nothing more than a fan watching on TV as Southgate’s heroes reached the nation’s first World Cup semi-final since 1990.

Winks (above) said it was one of the hardest periods of his career – but helping England stun Spain in Seville on Monday night has gone a long way towards making amends.

Cheering

Southgate’s Young Lions produced one of England’s greatest performances for years to sink Luis Enrique’s men 3-2 in the Nations League.

Winks said: “Obviously the injury came at a difficult time for me. Being just after my first cap it was quite difficult to take that.

“The lads did really well in the World Cup but I was just sitting there as a fan and cheering them as I would have done if I was there.

“It is probably the most difficult experience I have had in my career.

“Every player gets injuries, I’m no different, and players have to go through difficult situations.

“Being young – and at the time I was performing well for club and had an opportunity with my country as well – it was tough for me to deal with.

“But that is football and mentally you have to be strong and put up a barrier and deal with it. I have come out of the other side and I feel a lot more mentally strong than before.”

Winks has impressed against Spain and Barcelona in the space of a week.

He added: “I’m proud of myself and the way I have performed but I still believe I can perform a lot better.

“I watch the games back and believe I can do a lot better on the ball as well.”