Conor Coady believes England players can make an “incredible difference” as they prepare to qualify for the “biggest show on earth.”
Senior England players will hold talks about expressing their concerns over human rights issues in Qatar ahead of next year’s controversial World Cup finals in the Gulf state.
Holland wore protest T-shirts to join the likes of Germany and Norway who have also taken a stand against alleged violations against migrant workers in the Gulf nation.
It will be the most controversial World Cup in history and, even though Coady says the players are excited about qualification, it is another chance for them to take a stand once they clinch qualification as they prepare to face San Marino.
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Wolves captain Coady is part of England’s leadership group, he played a big role in raising money for NHS heroes in the pandemic and it is certain to become a big topic which Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford have also addressed before next year’s finals.
Coady said: “It is important that we notice that is a fantastic part of this England group and the players in this group make an incredible difference every day of their lives trying to use that platform to help different people, try to help kids with Rashy, the NHS with Hendo, it’s different things.
“The most important thing for us over the past year has been trying to push ourselves to get to Qatar, that’s the most important thing.
“But we are not robots. We see things every single day, we’re seeing the news, we’re reading the papers, we’re seeing different things going on, I’m sure the conversation will be had at some point regarding this situation, but I think for us it was getting to where we want to be and then crossing that bridge when we come to have that conversation.
“I think at the minute it is tough to speak about it because it is not something we have had a real conversation about at the minute.
“But I think we’ve always said to ourselves over the last year that the most important thing is to get to where we want to be, which is to Qatar and honestly speak about the situation when the time is right.”
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Coady will play against San Marino and, despite not being a must-pick under Gareth Southgate, his influence his huge in the dressing room because he has a strong voice.
England No2 Steve Holland even claimed Coady was the most important member of the squad in the Euros and the players have enjoyed a taste of success - but want more.
Having reached the World Cup semi finals in 2018 and the Euros finals in the summer, next year gives them another great opportunity and Coady admits they cannot hide their excitement.
Coady added: “I'll be honest, we speak about it all the time, speak about the excitement. The coaching staff speak about the excitement, the manager speaks about the excitement all the time of trying to get to the biggest show on earth.
“That's what we speak about and I think it's important we speak about it because that's where we want to be, that's what we've worked so hard for over the last year with the qualifiers we've had. We need to make sure we finish the job.
“There’s 3,000 fans going across and we want to put on a good show. I think I'll be a proud moment to say you've been involved in these squads and getting our country to the biggest show on earth. That's a massive, massive achievement for everybody involved.
“People can speak about what they want but we've had a job to do over the past year and we've got to a point now where we can get ourselves over the line with a good performance and a good win to make sure we can there as calmly and smoothly as we want.”
