Kickabouts with brother helped turn Trippier into set-piece king

● England right-back always looked up to older sibling who played for Oldham

my brother was playing for Oldham, he was in League One and League Two, and he’s the one I looked up to,” Trippier said ahead of tomorrow’s quarter-final against Sweden.

“I used to go and watch him every week, watching his training sessions at Oldham, playing there, kicking it against the wall. I just looked up to my brother because he was a professional and he was the one I wanted to follow.

“Unfortunately, he is not playing now but he’s the one who has helped me a hell of a lot. He was a full-back. He was a right-back and left-back. He played a few games in the Football League and he’s had a big impact on my career.”

Trippier’s career, like so many of Gareth Southgate’s England squad, has not had a straight, upward trajectory to success. At nine-years-old, he

0 Kieran Trippier has created 12 chances for England at the World Cup from his right-back berth. joined Manchester City’s academy, where the quality of his crossing was worked on endlessly with youth coach Steve Eyre, who he still speaks to every week and was a guest at his wedding, in June 2016.

“My delivery is something I always used to work on,” Trippier said. “Me and Steve used to stay behind for ages after more or less every session. You can always improve on everything, and crossing was the one I really wanted to work on.

“At Platt Lane in the youth team we just used to stay out and practice and practice. There are a lot of people I need to thank for my journey to get here and he’s one of them.

“I used to watch Beckham and Pirlo, players like this, over their careers – they have got a fantastic right foot on them and everyone knows that. Beckham was the one I always looked up to – the technique, his crossing, on the move or set pieces. He’s the one I used to look up to on crossing the ball.”

As a teenager, Trippier was a winger, and competed in athletics for his schools, particularly in running, hence the lungs to get up and down the right flank all match long. Yet despite signing his first professional contract at City and joining the first team on a preseason tour of America in 2010, it did not work out. Loan spells at Barnsley and Burnley turned into a permanent move to the latter, where he established himself as a standout full-back and earned the move to Spurs three years ago.

Now he is starring for England at a World Cup, where only Brazil’s Neymar, with 16, and Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne, on 13, have created more chances than Trippier’s 12. “Somebody mentioned that to me – not bad for a Bury lad!” he said. “The formation is perfect for me – I can get forward as much as I can and try to get the crosses in and help my team as much as I can. If I manage to help them I am delighted.”

Dele Alli, meanwhile, is fully fit to face Sweden tomorrow but Southgate will make late calls on the rest of his injured players.

Alli, who missed two group matches after straining his thigh in the opening game against Tunisia, still had his thigh strapped during the last-16 match against Colombia and appeared to struggle at times. “I think the extra couple of days were really helpful for him,” Southgate said.

Striker Jamie Vardy is increasingly unlikely to be ready to face Sweden, however, due to the groin problem he picked up against Colombia.

Ashley Young, who was substituted in Tuesday’s match with an ankle issue, and Kyle Walker, who had severe cramp, will be assessed today. Sweden captain Andreas Granqvist says he will play against England, but could fly home before the clash to attend the birth of his child.

The defender’s wife Sofia is due to give birth, which had left him a doubt for tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-final.

But the former Wigan player is adamant he will play in the game, even if he has to fly home first.

“I’m planning to stay,” Granqvist told SNTV.

“My wife is a very strong person and we knew the situation before I came here. Nothing has happened so far.

“If I have the position to fly home quickly then I may do that. But, whatever happens, I do not miss the quarter-final.”

England midfielder Fabian Delph missed his side’s dramatic win over Colombia to be at the birth of his third child, but has since travelled back to Russia.

Sweden beat Switzerland 1-0 on Monday, a day before England progressed 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw.

And Granqvist believes Sweden could have the edge in the last-eight game because of their team spirit.

“Harry Kane is fantastic,” he said. “They play more offensively now than they did before, with skilful players like [Raheem] Sterling.

“Welostalotofbignames, we had to start from the beginning and play with 23 players, not one or two.

“We’ve worked really hard and we’ve shown that we really work for each other, we fight for each other and we do it as a collective.”