Arsenal's Jack Wilshere 'hopeful' of World Cup spot with England
Saturday 5 May 2018 10:09, UK
Jack Wilshere says he is "hopeful" of going to the World Cup, but is not sure if he will make Gareth Southgate's England squad.
The Arsenal midfielder has not played for England since the defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016 and missed recent friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy due to a knee injury.
Southgate has until May 14 to name England's 35-man provisional squad for the World Cup and needs to whittle it down to 23 by June 4.
Asked about his chances of making the squad, Wilshere told Sky Sports: "I am hopeful, but it all comes down to Gareth and his coaching staff.
"I have always said before how proud I am to play for my country. I haven't done it for a while, I was probably going to do it then I picked up a little knock, which wasn't ideal, but I am hopeful of going.
"Am I confident? I am not sure, but I want to go."
Wilshere has been a regular for Arsenal this season and Southgate said in March that it's not too late for the 26-year-old to work his way into the squad.
But Wilshere said: "There are good players in that team, you have seen it this year.
"The team has come a long way since the Iceland game where we lost and were really disappointed and there was a lot of rebuilding to do.
"Gareth and his staff have done brilliantly, players have developed since then, you just have to look in the Premier League this season and you see the likes of (Raheem) Sterling and (Harry) Kane both near the top of the scoring charts and doing well.
"There are players throughout - Jordan Henderson is in the Champions League final playing big games - and these players have developed into top players and hopefully we have can have a good World Cup."
