Monday 23 May 2016 14:43, UK
Danny Rose expects his battle with Ryan Bertrand for England's left-back spot to go right down to the wire.
The Tottenham defender will go head to head with Southampton's Bertrand in the coming weeks as the two attempt to convince Roy Hodgson they should start for England at this summer's European Championships.
The 25-year-old was given the first opportunity to stake his claim by playing 90 minutes in Sunday's warm-up friendly victory over Turkey at the Etihad Stadium.
Rose shrugged off a difficult start to the game to eventually be named England's man of the match, but despite his excellent performance, he anticipates Bertrand will come back even stronger.
"Me and Ryan are going to go at it toe to toe for the next two weeks - and may the best man win," he said.
"I didn't expect to start. We found out the team on Friday and it was a great surprise.
"Four months ago, I wouldn't have thought I would be in this position, it is pretty surreal. I am just trying to enjoy every minute of it and take my club form into international level."
Bertrand has been England's first-choice in recent months, but had to watch from the bench as Rose put down a real marker to replace him in the starting line-up to face Russia in their Euro 2016 opener on June 11.
However, Rose was exposed early on as Turkey cancelled out Harry Kane's third-minute opener through Hakan Calhanoglu and there were some other anxious moments for the England back four before Jamie Vardy secured victory.
Joe Hart was forced into a terrific save in injury-time in order to preserve England's victory and Rose says the confidence is flowing through the camp.
"We are definitely optimistic but there was a message from the manager after the game that we are going to have to defend better if we are going to go anywhere in the European Championship," he said.
"But if we put the mistakes we made right that will give us a good platform to build on in the Euros. We have got two weeks to put everything right."
