Players ‘motivated’ by Southgate’s assessment

Qualification has not been plain sailing, says Bertrand

Ryan Bertrand feels Gareth Southgate’s suggestion some players were lucky to be selected for the England squad may act as a motivator.

Last week, as his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania was announced, Southgate said that “you could well argue there are one or two in the squad who haven’t necessarily warranted it on their performances”.

Asked yesterday how the squad had reacted to the remark, defender Bertrand said: “I’ve seen no real reaction.

“I’m not sure in which sense he meant that. I’m sure it wasn’t a bad sense.

“The boys have come in and got on as normal.”

But when then asked if it could help motivate, he said: “Definitely.

“I think here we have fantastic competition for places, which is only good for the squad. Every chance we get, we’ll be sure to take it.”

England host Slovenia on Thursday before playing Lithuania away three days later in their two remaining Group F games.

England’s last tournament outing saw them make an embarrassing exit from Euro 2016 – which they had gone into having had a 100% record in qualifying.

Asked how confident he was that England will make a positive impact next summer in Russia, Bertrand said: “I’m very confident.

“We’ve had a few learning curves in this qualifying campaign.

“It hasn’t been plain sailing, as it probably was in previous years, and as a team we’ve come through them and we’re getting stronger and stronger, on and off the field.”

He added regarding qualification: “It’s not over. The work isn’t finished. We want to get six points.

“It would be nice to complete the qualification in front of our fans at Wembley.”

Bertrand scored his first England goal in the last international break, netting late on in the 4-0 away win over Malta.

The 28-year-old full-back barely celebrated when the shot went in, but he has stressed how much it meant to him.

“It was amazing,” he said. “It didn’t quite come across that way on the night, but I was more tuned into the team’s objectives, rather than personal ones.

“But I can assure you when I got home with my family there was a great realisation over what had just happened, and I was very grateful for that moment.”

Bertrand, holder of 16 senior caps, has started each of England’s last six games, and he has emphasised he is “very determined” to hang on to the first-choice left-back spot, for which Danny Rose – who has been sidelined by a knee injury – appears his main rival.

“We’ve got fantastic players in all areas and who should play is down to the manager,” Bertrand said.

“When you get your chance, you want to do well and stake your claim as strong as possible.

“Once you get the shirt, you don’t want to let it go, but only performances will dictate what happens.

“It’s not so much focusing on ensuring Danny doesn’t grab the shirt again – it’s just about focusing on myself.”

Picture: PA. England manager Gareth Southgate believes some of his players are lucky to be in the national squad.