#PLStories- #RalphHasenhuttl and #GarethSouthgate heaps praise on #JamesWardProwse as he wins Saints Player of the Season award #SAINTSFC

SUPER skipper James Ward-Prowse has been named the Daily Echo Saints Player of the Season for the 2020-21 campaign. The midfielder sealed top spot in the online vote from Echo readers, with 46 per cent in total. He was ahead of Stuart Armstrong (32 per cent) with Kyle Walker-Peters (nine per cent) rounding off the top three. Ward-Prowse was ever-present for Saints in the top flight this season, becoming the only midfielder in the Premier League to feature for the entirety of two campaigns. Of Saints’ players this term, Ward-Prowse made more passes and had more touches of the ball than anyone else. Only Walker-Peters made more tackles than the England midfielder. Across the 38 games, Ward-Prowse scored eight times and provided seven assists. In winning the award, he follows in the footsteps of recent winners, Oriol Romeu, Alex McCarthy and Nathan Redmond. Mick Channon was the first recipient of the prize in 1974. The award seals an impressive double for the 26-year-old, who also last week scooped the club’s supporters’ player of the season accolade. Ward-Prowse was on Tuesday named in Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man England squad ahead of this summer’s European Championships. Speaking about the midfielder while announcing the squad, Three Lions manager Southgate said: “I've worked with James since my very first game in the under-21s and it has been amazing to see his life progress, really. "He is a father, he gets married soon and it is lovely to watch players go through that journey in their life. "To see him go from being a young player under Mauricio (Pochettino) to a great captain under Ralph (Hasenhuttl), it's fantastic." He added: "He is a fantastic professional. That is why he has been able to hammer those games out. "There is always an element of luck in having an injury-free run like that but you always know with James that he will do everything he can to get himself in the best condition that he can be in, to recover in the best possible way and to eat the right things.” Ward Prowse has made 322 senior appearances for Saints, having come through the club’s youth academy, joining at the age of eight. Speaking about the talismanic midfielder, Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “It’s not surprising for me, a player who played every minute this season is unbelievable. “His physicality and his performances are outstanding. That’s our captain on the pitch and he is on the way that he is a very important player for this club for the long term, I think.”