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JACK GREALISH finally got his call to England and then vowed to make sure another team is never lost.
Gareth Southgate chose Aston Villa’s ace for the first time after Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks pulled out of the Nations League double in Iceland and Denmark.
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The 24-year-old playmaker switched his allegiance from Ireland to England five years ago, but boss Southgate had repeatedly rebuffed him.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, Grealish said: “I don’t want to be outside looking in again. But I know that for that to be the case I have to make a good impression.
“It’s been a long time coming, but this is something I’ve always wanted to do.
“I thought it was going to happen five years ago when I made the decision to play for England. I’m so glad it finally happened.
“My plan has always been to get into the England team for the first time and then make sure I do enough to stay there.
“The hardest thing is getting your first call.
“Once you’re on the team, it’s up to you to make sure you do enough in training sessions or in games.”
Grealish inspired Villa to survive the final day of the Premier League and only Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne created more opportunities than he did last season.
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But the Brummie, due to appear in court in November after crashing his car during the lockdown, was omitted from the original 24-man team and looked like it had little future under Southgate.
Wolves defender Conor Coady and Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles were also called up on Saturday.
Grealish, who played for the Republic of Ireland youth teams, added: “Some of the players in the current squad have been on the England pitch for many years.
“You just hope they are there, and that should be the goal of all the players.
“When I was out of the Aston Villa team for the first time, my goal was to come in and stay. So now it’s the same with England.
“I don’t know if I will have the opportunity to show what I can do on the field.
“But if that doesn’t happen, then I have to use every training session to show what I’m capable of and I’m sure I can.”
Southgate defended his decision not to initially include Grealish seven days ago.
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He said, “With Jack, the simple answer is Mason Greenwood. He’s competing against Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Raheem Sterling.
“I know that Villa has played him as an eight, I don’t see him in that role for us. He could play like a ten, but we haven’t played with a ten. “
Grealish got his chance after Manchester United striker Rashford failed to recover from an ankle problem and Tottenham Winks midfielder was also ruled out.
Southgate feared losing more players as five tested positive for coronavirus last week. But yesterday he was relieved when players reported at St George’s Park after another round of testing.
England will spend this week at the Staffordshire base before flying to Iceland on Friday.
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