James Ward-Prowse aims to follow Jack Butland into England senior team

02 September 2015 02:31

New England Under-21 captain James Ward-Prowse has his sights set on the senior team but knows in order to maintain his progress he has to keep doing the business for Gareth Southgate's side.

The 20-year-old has taken over the armband from Jack Butland, who has been called up by Roy Hodgson for the forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Switzerland.

Seeing the Stoke goalkeeper get his chance in the senior set-up, following the likes of ex-Saints team-mates Nathaniel Clyne and Luke Shaw, John Stones and Harry Kane in making make the step up, has provided Ward-Prowse with added motivation.

But he accepts he has to continue to prove himself at club and under-21 level and is focusing on the forthcoming two-year qualifying campaign for the 2017 European Championships.

"Every boy's dream is it play for England and to reach the senior team would be great," he said.

"If I keep performing well for country and club hopefully I will be recognised for the first team.

"If I do the job right here the first team will come calling. It is important not to put a time frame on it but focus on the job in hand.

"Last year I saw a few of the lads push into the first team and that is a real good sign for us as players that there is a pathway for good players to get into the team."

"To get the honour of the armband is a great privilege to me and is something I will cherish.

"With or without the armband I am always trying to take the lead and be a good communicator and try to lead by example."

Ward-Prowse is one of a handful of survivors from this summer's European Championships which ended so badly with them finishing bottom of their group.

He is now considered one of the senior professionals within the squad, hence his elevation to captain, and he hopes he can pass on some of the lessons learned from that chastening time in the Czech Republic.

"We didn't perform when it mattered but from these tournament experiences we can all take a learning curve from it," he added ahead of Thursday's friendly with a United States Under-23 team at Preston.

"From the disappointment if the summer we learned our lesson and we look forward.

"We have a new squad together and having seen the first day of training there is a lot of real quality coming through so I think it is a very exciting time for us.

"There are a number of young players coming through who will be eager to impress the manager and be keen to get the shirt come the first game.

"It is a real good mix. We have different qualities all over the pitch and I'm excited to be a part of it time and I think it will be an exciting journey over the next two years to get to Poland."

Source: PA