Michael Keane can’t wait to return to Wembley on Monday, the scene of one of his personal highlights to date.
The Everton defender says that his appearance for the Three Lions in the victory over Lithuania in March is up there with the best moments in his short career.
And the 24-year-old is hoping to impress boss Gareth Southgate enough to grace the famous Wembley pitch again as England look to take another step towards World Cup qualification.
“I can’t wait to be back at Wembley,” revealed the former Manchester United and Burnley ace.
“I have great memories of playing against Lithuania in my first match there, right from arriving at the stadium, the build-up and of course, the game itself.
“It was a special occasion for me and all of my family and luckily, the game went well.
“We had a good win, kept a clean sheet and hopefully I’ll be able to train well and be in the manager’s ideas for that.”
Keane and his squad mates arrived back on home turf on Saturday after Friday’s game with Malta in Ta’Qali, before turning their attentions to Monday’s game where another victory could be enough to secure England’s spot at next summer’s World Cup Finals.
But after recalling the first game with Slovakia, when it took a late strike from Adam Lallana to clinch a 1-0 victory in what was former boss Sam Allardyce’s only game in charge, Keane knows it won’t be straight forward.
“It’s a game that we should win but we can’t take it for granted,” he added.
“You never know in football, you see it in the Premier League with mad results and they’ll make it difficult for us, but we’ve prepared well and we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready.
“We’ve done our homework on the opposition and we’ll be ready.
