JAMES Ward-Prowse admits he would be “lying” if he said the World Cup was not on his mind, as he looks to force his way into the England squad. There are now less than four weeks until the tournament starts in Qatar, with Gareth Southgate looking to put together a squad of 26 players to end the country’s 56-year wait for glory in the event. Ward-Prowse has regularly been part of England squads in recent years, and has netted twice in his 11 senior caps. But the Saints skipper was left out of the final group for Euro 2020 and could face a battle for his spot again this time around. Asked if he was thinking about the upcoming World Cup, or if his focus remained purely on Saints,
James Ward-Prowse said: “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. I think it’s on everybody’s minds. Everybody’s looking forward to it and there’s still a lot of football to be played between now and then. So concentrate on the club football and hopefully that will take care of itself.”
The 27-year-old reached double figures for goals for Saints last season, but has managed to net just once so far this term, that coming on the opening day at Tottenham.
Discussing his lack of goals,
James Ward-Prowse said: “I’ve not had many opportunities with the free-kick side of things. But that’s not the main focus of my game. My game is a lot more about the goals and the work that I do for the team. So as long as I do that right, the goals will come.”
Saints have recently turned a corner, picking up five points from three games over the space of eight days. That came on the back of four straight defeats and has lifted Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men out of the relegation zone and up into 16th.
James Ward Prowes said: “We know it wasn’t the greatest start to the season, but last week was huge for us. Five points is a good total in the Premier League, considering the opposition. So we’ve got a good platform now to go to (Crystal) Palace on Saturday and look forward to that one.”
Previewing the trip to Selhurst Park this weekend,
James Ward-Prowse added: “Tough. I think they’ve really improved under Patrick Vieira. We know it’s a tough place to go. We’ve had good games with them down the years and I’m sure Saturday will be another one.”
