Danny Rose has admitted he does not know if he is England’s first-choice left-back amid ongoing competition with Ben Chilwell.
The Tottenham defender started in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Bulgaria at Wembley, enduring a mixed outing in which he created some good chances and picked up a yellow card.
Leicester City’s Chilwell is expected to come into the team for Tuesday’s meeting with Kosovo, while the injured Luke Shaw of Manchester United may provide further competition in future squads.
Spurs new boy Ryan Sessegnon may also be fighting for the left-back spot soon enough, but for now Rose is confident he and Chilwell can keep pushing each other to perform well in the England team.
“I don’t know if I’m first choice.” Rose said (via the Mirror). “Me and Chilly have to do everything to help each other and help the team.
“If I play I don’t think it’s going to be a disadvantage and if Chilly plays it’s not going to be a disadvantage for the team.
“We both offer great qualities and I’m a massive fan of Chilly’s. I’ve got two of his shirts at my house and one hung up on my wall.
“I feel very lucky to be able to share this spot with him and be able to help him in any way. If I don’t play I’m going to be cheering him on and hopefully learn from what he can do.”
Rose was heavily linked with the Tottenham exit door this summer having initially been left out of the pre-season tour squad – Spurs even admitted he was discussing potential transfers with other clubs.
But the 29-year-old ended up staying, and he insists he is happy despite the stories that were being written over the summer, most of which he suggests were not totally true.
Rose added: “It wasn’t tough, it is what it is. Everything that was publicised in the summer was not entirely true and I think in the future I will have my say on everything that happened but I don’t want to focus on negativity at the minute.
“I can’t lie, I am very happy, but I just want to say that everything that was written in the summer wasn’t entirely true.”
Whether or not Rose has a long-term future at Tottenham, he is certainly a useful player to have around the place while Sessegnon is bedded in this season.
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I’d put Davies in before him every time.