Winks motivated to break into England squad

Cape Town - Harry Winks is looking forward to earning an England call-up in the near future after seeing so many young players selected in recent games by Gareth Southgate.

The 21-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, who has two Under 21 caps, has been sensational for Spurs this season, making 20 Premier League appearances and 32 in all competitions, scoring once.

Southgate has already called up the likes of Nathan Redmond, Marcus Rashford and James Ward-Prowse, while the squad has a number of other young established stars like Eric Dier (23), Raheem Sterling (22) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (23).

After being beaten 1-0 by Germany in an U21 friendly on Friday, he said: "The manager (Aidy Boothroyd) has told us that there are opportunities there.

"As long as we keep performing for club and country and doing well, then the opportunity is there to take.

"With someone like Gareth in charge, he likes young players and he's keen to bring us through and give us opportunities.

"You could see that the other night (in the senior game against Germany). We had a lot of young players playing and it's just down to us really, whether we perform at club level to get the call-up.

"My next step is to take it game by game, whether that's for the U21s here or for Tottenham back at home."

Up next for the senior England side is a World Cup qualification clash with Lithuania on Sunday evening.