Raheem Sterling insists he has no concerns over his place in Gareth Southgate's England squad ahead of Euro 2020.
The Manchester City winger, one of Southgate's most experienced internationals going into the tournament, endured a relatively quiet end to the season at club level by his standards, struggling to nail down a consistent place in Pep Guardiola's side.
That form has led to speculation over whether or not - with all of England's attacking options - Sterling will make it into Southgate's best front three when he names a starting XI for the tournament opener against Croatia on Sunday at Wembley.
Sterling, however, has little concern either way. Asked about his position in the side, Sterling told TalkSPORT: “I started playing when I was 17 years of age, never have I looked and said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to play or am I going to play’. Just enjoy football. It’s not that serious."
That there is stern competition for Sterling's place highlights the strength available to Southgate this summer, and the Manchester City man knows England have to compete with the favourites.
“When I was first came into the national team I wouldn’t dare to say ‘we should be doing this, we should be doing that,'” Sterling said talkSPORT.
“But with the players that we’ve got, of course the most important thing is to try and get out of the group, but we want to be challenging, we want to get to the final.
“That’s the whole reason why the FA and everyone set up that beautiful building (St George’s Park) so we’re as comfortable as possible. We have to be challenging, simple as that.”
