Raheem Sterling believes that the mentality within the England squad can help them continue to develop, as the Three Lions target qualification for next summer’s UEFA EURO 2020 Finals.
The Manchester City forward and his team-mates take on Czech Republic in Prague on Friday evening, knowing that a win will be enough to secure their place in the Finals.
And he says the competition for places in Gareth Southgate’s team is fierce, with all eyes on the prize and the possibility of playing a tournament on home soil at Wembley next year.
“Everyone wants to win,” said Sterling.
“There’s no-one in the squad, I’d say, who’s just happy to be in the squad.
“Everyone wants to play, everyone wants to be in the starting eleven and will be disappointed when they’re not in the starting eleven.
“So, we have a team of 24, 23 players and everyone wants to play and challenge each other.
“I think that’s when you know you’ve got a team with the right mentality who want to do well. It’s not just the starting eleven, it’s the players competing for positions.”
Sterling, who scored a hat-trick in England’s 5-0 win over the Czechs at Wembley in March, is also enjoying the competition for places with his fellow forwards.
Alongside Harry Kane, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, there’s no shortage of firepower and the former Liverpool and QPR man believes they can only get better.
“I think that there are a lot of great front threes in the world,” he added.
“They’re all players that are still getting better, still learning, but at the same time are producing as well.
“So, it’s an exciting front three, but you know, we’ve got to do it in big games, at big tournaments.
“That’s when we’ll be judged if we’re a great front three or not.”
