England striker Ollie Watkins believes the World Cup could hinge on the impact of substitutes, a role he is ready to embrace.
Watkins came off the bench to net England’s third goal in their 3-0 friendly victory over Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, marking their final warm-up fixture before their opening game at this summer’s tournament.
The Aston Villa forward was among several players introduced from the bench who injected renewed intensity into the performance.
Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Morgan Rogers all made a noticeable difference as the Central American side began to tire late in the game.
With the tournament set to be played in challenging conditions and at varying altitudes, England manager Thomas Tuchel will undoubtedly rely on players coming off the bench to influence matches.
"Even being sat on the bench you can see how hot it is when you’re not even playing, let alone what the players are going through, running around at a high intensity," Watkins, who is expected to serve as Harry Kane’s primary back-up, explained.
"The game opens up at 60-70 minutes and what better way than fresh legs to come on and show what they can do."
Watkins is anticipated to feature in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Miami FC as England conclude their pre-tournament camp. The squad will then enjoy a couple of days off before relocating to their tournament base in Kansas City.
Reflecting on the preparations, Watkins added: "I think we have worked hard continuously, a lot of days on our feet, a lot of training sessions.
“Even if we haven’t been training, we have been doing a lot of meetings and set-piece meetings. It will be good to have some downtime before we go to Kansas."
England’s opening game at the World Cup will be against Croatia in Texas on 17 June.
Tuchel’s men will then face Ghana six days later before concluding their group stage campaign against Panama on 27 June.
It is still almost a week until England’s campaign begins, but the tournament is due to get underway on Thursday with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa in the opening game.
