Kalvin Phillips says competition for his place in the England side is healthy.
The midfielder won his third England cap when he replaced Jordan Henderson midway through the second half of their 2-1 victory over Belgium on Sunday.
Henderson's return to fitness has increased the amount of holding midfielders looking for a place in England's starting XI.
Speaking in a post-match press conference, Phillips was asked what he thought about having Henderson as competition for a place in the England team.
The 24-year-old argued it was healthy to have strong squad depth and it is only natural for there to be high competition to play for England.
He said: "It's going to be a battle to play for England, I know that. To be honest I didn't think I'd be here. If you'd told me a year ago I'd be here I wouldn't even think that.
"It's healthy for all of us, everyone in the squad, my position or not.
"There's a lot of people that want to play for England, we've got great players in my role and all I can do is do my best in training, in games and at club level as well.
"Hopefully that does enough to help me play games and I've started reasonably well, so hopefully I can keep that up."
Phillips was pleased to help England to a win over their Nations League opponents, particularly with Belgium ranked at number one on the FIFA rankings.
The Leeds United star said it shows England have the ability to grind out results against top opposition.
"A result like that is always satisfying, especially when you're coming up against top players like that," he said.
"We know, in the dressing room, we've got world-class players as well, so if we work together as a team we'll always be able to put teams like that under pressure.
"That's what we did in the second half, I thought we played well in the second half and ground it out to get a result."
