England news: Jack Grealish ready to embrace ‘impact sub’ role if he is benched by Gareth Southgate
- Planet Sport writer
- 21 September 2022
England will take on Italy and Germany during this international break as Gareth Southgate’s men make their final preparations for the World Cup.
That won't be the only focus point of those fixtures, considering England will be relegated from their UEFA Nations League group if they lose Friday's San Siro clash.
Jack Grealish, who has not been a regular starter in Gareth Southgate's team, believes his side are looking forward to the challenge.
"I think for us, it's something we're obviously aware of, but something that we're all embracing," Grealish said.
"Especially, I'm not going to speak for the manager, but I'm sure he's got certain players that are 100 per cent to go to the World Cup, and then there's obviously certain places and numbers that are still up for grabs. We're just all training as normal.
"We have two matches now that are going to be very tough opposition and this is really like your pre- World Cup camp.
"We were saying before that before the Euros we had a good few weeks of training sessions, good friendlies, and we're not going to get that this time.
"But everyone's in the same boat, so it's something that we need to embrace and look forward to."
Grealish has been quick to ingratiate himself with England fans since making his debut in September 2020, but the fact 11 of his 23 caps have come as a substitute underlines the work needed to step up.
"I'd love to be (starting) but then again I know what an impact I can bring from the bench," he added. "I'm not going to sit here and say, 'that's what I am - someone who just comes on'.
"I started one game in the Euros and got an assist, which I was over the moon about.
"The manager's the manager and if him and his staff decide to play me, I'll give my all and also if I'm on the bench, I'm ready to come on as an impact sub."
