Mon 08 October 2018, 11:43
Tottenham HotspurA year ago today, Harry Winks put on a great performance on his senior England debut.
Now, after 12 months of ups and downs which started with him dominating the midfield against Real Madrid in the Champions League, then saw him laid low with an ongoing ankle problem that eventually required surgery, he’s back in the Three Lions fold and eager to add to his solitary cap – earned against Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier – when Gareth Southgate’s men visit Croatia and Spain in the new UEFA Nations League over the next eight days.
“I’m over the moon to be back in the England squad,” he smiled after another all-action display for us in Saturday’s 1-0 triumph over a stubborn Cardiff City side at Wembley.
“It’s been a long and difficult path over the last year with injuries so to get back in will be great and I’m just looking forward to getting back together with all the squad and seeing what happens.
“With the way the boys performed at the World Cup, I think every game is winnable so I’m really looking forward to the matches against two good teams like Croatia and Spain. It will be good to see what it’s like around the boys and just go from there really.”
Reflecting on our narrow win at the weekend, in which Eric Dier’s close-range finish early in the first half settled matters, Harry said the players always felt they had the upper hand and were determined not to let their concentration levels – and the points – slip.
They had a couple of chances and Hugo made a great save in the second half to keep us 1-0 up.
“We were always in control of the game but they had a couple of good chances and against a team like Cardiff, who are very direct and like set-pieces, you can’t ever switch off for one minute,” he said. “They had a couple of chances and Hugo (Lloris) made a great save in the second half to keep us 1-0 up, so against a team like this you can never rest on your laurels – you’ve always got to be ready.
“It was a game that we had to win, play well and just get ourselves back into winning ways after Wednesday night and the loss to Barcelona. It was always going to be a tough game, we knew we had to prepare in a different way against this team because they were going to be strong and competitive but I thought we did well and it was good to get the win.”
