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Everton’s Tom Davies ready to make up for lost time with England Under-21s after missing Euro 2019
Tom Davies insists he is ready to make up for lost time with England Under-21s.
The in-form Everton midfielder has returned to captain the Young Lions this term.
A shoulder injury ruled him out of Euro 2019 but he is now preparing to face Albania in Shkoder on Friday.
England have won all three Euro 2021 qualifiers so far – extending their unbeaten record in qualification matches to 38 – with Davies eager to play his part again.
“I was gutted to miss out on the Euros because we’d worked so hard and I was a big part of it,” said the 21-year-old, who has captained the Young Lions in three of their four games this term.
“It happens to every player, getting injured. The start of the season was tough, not getting in the (Everton) team, but I’ve come to realise that it’s about keeping a level.
“Not getting too high when you’re playing, not too low when you are not. Focus on what is next. I’ve had a few good games but the focus is Albania. That’s the general idea I’m working with.”
Davies watched on as the Young Lions failed to qualify from Group C in Italy and San Marino, leaving winless after defeats to France and Romania and drawing with Croatia.
The squad was accused of being over-confident following their premature exit and, while most of the team has moved on, Davies wants to put any lingering disappointment right.
“It was a great group of lads with a lot of quality. They’ve all kicked on this year and a lot are doing really well with their clubs each week,” he said.
“We were disappointed with how it went but you can’t affect that now. We want to qualify for the next Euros and that’ll be my chance to show how good I am. What’s happened, happened.
“Every squad is going to be different. There are a few similar faces but you’re not going to have an exact like-for-like team.
“We’ve a lot of attacking, pacey players in this group that we might not have had in the last one.
“But we had a very good group of people who can handle a ball well and goalscorers. This group is exciting to be part of.”
England are top of Group Three, ahead of Austria on goal difference with a game in hand, ahead of their final qualifier of the year while Albania sit fourth with five points from five matches.
“It’ll be a tough game. Going away is always tough. They’ll make it difficult for us,” Davies, who scored his first goal for 18 months in Everton’s 2-1 win at Southampton last weekend, added.
“It’s not going to be what we’re used to and might be a bit of a shock to some of the lads. We’ve got enough quality to beat them. We’ll be focusing on that all week.”
PA
