England won’t be taking lowly duo lightly in Qatar bid
REECE James says England players have left club rivalries at the door as Gareth Southgate’s side focuses on wrapping up World Cup qualification.
Few expect any major bumps in the road to Qatar as a mammoth international year comes to a conclusion against Albania on Friday and San Marino on Monday.
England boast a three-point cushion heading into this month’s Group I double-header and are priced by some bookmakers at 1/1,000 to top the pool, yet there is no sense of complacency within the group.
“You know in football anything can happen – we’ve seen that a number of times,” full-back James said ahead of facing the sides ranked 63rd and 210th in the world.
“We can’t look too far ahead.
We’ve got two games that we need to win to qualify and that’s our first aim.”
While qualification is not quite secure, Qatar 2022 is a tantalising prospect for a player in the form of his life.
Only Mohamed Salah, Michail Antonio and Jamie Vardy have been directly involved in more Premier League goals than James, whose performance have helped Chelsea go top of the Premier League.
“I’d probably say at this moment in time this is probably the best I’ve performed,” the 21-year-old said. “The recent results and performances have probably showed that as well.
“At this moment in time our team’s performing well and we’re creating a lot of chances so it’s obviously helping and we’ve got great players around us.
“When you’re playing week in, week out and you’re playing well and the team’s performance, you’re keeping clean sheets and winning games in style, it obviously helps builds everyone’s confidence.”
James is among three right-backs in Southgate’s selection alongside Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold