England kickstart their Euro 2020 qualification campaign tonight as they welcome the Czech Republic to Wembley. Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, and Dele Alli have all made the squad with Harry Winks unlucky to miss out through injury.
Gareth Southgate has handed two players their first ever England call up this time around – West Ham’s Declan Rice and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi. Declan Rice, in particular, has impressed many people with his performances this season for the Hammers.
The 20-year-old has shown that he has the combative qualities to win the ball as well as the technical ability to keep possession. Rice’s performance has seen many people including Ian Wright calling for the midfielder to be handed a start by Southgate ahead of the more experienced Eric Dier. (BBC Radio 5 Live Sport)
Rice has now spoken about the competition for places in midfield, and about competing with Dier for the defensive midfield spot.
Speaking to West Ham’s official website, Rice said, “Competition is healthy as well but because everyone gets on, there is no animosity and competition is good.
“We’ve got all these players here from top clubs and people might think there is that rivalry but that’s all forgotten about and it’s one big family, to be honest.
“Obviously, Eric and I have been up against each other in training position-wise and he works really, really hard.”
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