AFC Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson and midfielder Lewis Cook will be hoping to be included in England manager Gareth Southgate’s International squad announcement later today (Thursday).
The latest squad announcement is for two International friendlies against Netherlands and Italy.
They are the last opportunities for players to impress Southgate ahead of his World Cup squad announcement, which will come at the end of the season prior to the summer tournament in Russia.
The Cherries have a number of players reported to be on the fringes of the squad, including Jermain Defoe, Lewis Cook and Callum Wilson.
Wilson told the Daily Echo…
‘You always have to hope. First and foremost, you have to focus on your team performances and, hopefully, they are good enough to catch the eye of the international manager.
‘It’s an honour to represent your country at any level. Every English player has to be looking ahead and trying to aim high, and not just because the World Cup is coming up.
‘Some people might say you only want to play for England because of that but for me, I’ve represented England at a younger age and I’d like to do it again.
‘I’m focusing on my club performances and, ultimately, that’s what will get me there.’
Whilst AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe believes that Lewis Cook will be ready if called upon.
Howe told Radio Solent…
“He’s going the right way to earn that full recognition from his country,
“If he continues to develop in the way that he is – and I think that should be his aim, not necessarily the World Cup – but just to keep improving.
“And at the rate that he is I think he’ll have a great chance of representing England very soon.”
Your Say…
blandford_cherry wrote…
Would we boycott the World Cup?
All seems to be turning a bit nasty now that the government have confirmed they believe Russia were behind the Salisbury incident, from a football point of view there is a lot of talk that we may boycott attending….
What`s people`s thoughts? – Join the conversation here.
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