Tom Ince is hoping to end 2013 on a high with England Under-21s on Tuesday night as they face San Marino in their final qualifier of the year.
The Blackpool forward one of the most experienced players in Gareth Southgate’s squad, having been involved with the Under-21s across a year which saw the Three Lions take part in the Euro Finals during the summer before starting a new campaign under Gareth Southgate.
And with England hoping to end the year with a commanding lead in their group table, Ince says the squad is in a good place as they approach this game.
The 21-year-old told TheFA.com: “It's been a good eight or nine days for us, the lads have trained well and we got a good win against Finland at Milton Keynes, even though we didn't really hit the heights we know we can.
“But we had to go and get a result and we did that and we're nicely sitting at the top of the group.
“San Marino are probably the easy-pickings of the group but the lads are still remaining focused and ready to get another win tomorrow.”
Ince was one of three substitutes who came on in the second half of Thursday’s win in Milton Keynes to make an impression.
Along with Will Hughes and Jesse Lingard, he is now hoping he did enough to catch Southgate’s eye and earn a place in the line-up at Greenhous Meadow.
England Under-21s practice their free-kicks at training.
“There's a lot of players in the squad who didn't start on Thursday and will be looking to get the nod,” he revealed.
"The lads who came on on Thursday, including myself, stepped it up a little bit and Jesse and Will came on and did the same things.
"And the likes of Danny Ings have been working hard all week, so with Saido suspended, he could possibly get the nod.
"Everyone is pushing themselves on the training ground to get in that team and whoever does so has the full support of the squad.”
Thursday’s opposition remain relatively fresh in the memory too, with England winning by 4-0 in San Marino last month.
Ince started that game, when a goal from Michael Keane and Harry Kane’s hat-trick did the damage, and knows what to expect from Thursday’s visitors.
“San Marino will put 11 men behind the ball and try to get set pieces and then pump balls into the box,” he added.
"That's what we expect and we'll be ready for that, but we need to concentrate really hard on our attacking play and penetration.
“When we went there last month that was probably what we struggled with on the night.
“We scored four goals but it should have been more in the first half.”
Watch the full interview with Ince in the video player below, when he also looks back at his full year with the Under-21s and the importance of free-kick on Tuesday.
