World Cup: James Maddison ‘never felt the door was closed’ on his England ambitions

James Maddison never felt the door was closed to his England ambitions and felt ‘no bitterness’ towards Gareth Southgate despite not being picked for three years.

The Leicester City attacking midfielder was selected for England’s 26-man World Cup squad after an excellent start to the season at club level.

Maddison, 25, made his only appearance for England from the bench in a 7-0 win over Montenegro in November 2019 before being overlooked to date.

James Maddison said he never gave up on his ambitions in England, despite not being called up by Gareth Southgate for three years.

Maddison was waiting for Gareth Southgate’s call with Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers

“No, there was no bitterness,” he said at a press conference in Doha as England prepared for their World Cup opener against Iran on Monday.

As England coach, Gareth has a lot of talent at his disposal.

“It’s about keeping that mentality of staying hungry, scoring, assisting and influencing games and showing that I can be an asset to him at this level.”

Maddison has so far this season scored seven goals and provided four assists for Leicester to push himself back into England’s reckoning.

He added: ‘No, I never felt [his international chance] went. There were obviously times when you felt like you played well and didn’t get selected, and that happened a few times.

“It’s about having the right mindset and staying hungry to achieve something and not thinking it was a closed door.

Maddison’s fine scoring form for Leicester this season made it impossible to ignore

He has scored seven times so far this season and provided four assists for Leicester

He suffered an injury at West Ham on Sunday but says the scan results came back positive

“We’ve seen Gareth in the past bring players back when they’re in good shape and luckily I was for this tournament.”

There was a belated alarm after Southgate made its selection when Maddison was forced out of Leicester’s win over West Ham on Saturday.

But he delivered a positive update, suggesting he will be fit for the group opener if called up.

“We had a scan the day before we met and it was a positive scan,” he said.

“I had a little problem leading up to the game against West Ham. I wanted to play, I didn’t want to not play because of the World Cup, I’m not like that. I wanted to show that the focus was still there.

“I managed to score early and then keep going for a while, but there was pain and it got a little bit worse as the game went on.

Maddison’s only real cap for England to date was a 7-0 win over Montenegro in 2019

“The scan was a good scan and no significant problems. I’ll have to work a bit with the physios here to get up to full speed.’

Maddison revealed he was with Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers when Southgate’s number flashed on his phone – even though he had initially missed the call.

‘He [Rodgers] was just a good man-manager, who put his arm around me when I didn’t get a call,” he said.

“I went downstairs into the dressing room and had missed a call from Gareth Southgate. So the heart starts beating. I had saved his number.

“I went to him and called him back and he told me the good news, which was all a little blurry.

Maddison pictured training at England’s Al Wakrah base on Wednesday ahead of the opener

“After the call ended, it was a head on the wall moment. I took a deep breath and then called my parents.”

Maddison’s first instinct was to share the magical moment with his parents and even drive to their home in Coventry for dinner that night.

He recalled, “My father really cried and my father is not a cryer. I haven’t seen him cry in years. They were, of course, happy tears. Your family and parents will join you on this journey.

“In previous years, when I was excluded from the selection, the disappointment spread to the whole family. On the other side of the scale, happiness comes out.

‘After training I wanted to see them, I went to Coventry and had dinner with them. That was a moment I will cherish forever.”