‘I see England players pull on the jersey — do they want to die for it?’

Yet again the talk surrounding England as they approach a major tournament is marooned somewhere between hope and hype but Damien Duff has questioned whether Gareth Southgate’s players have the commitment required to make a mark at the World Cup.

Playing for England brings with it an avalanche of expectation and scrutiny with everyone from Paul Gascoigne, David Beckham, and Raheem Sterling all but vilified by the UK press at one point or another while on, or preparing for, national duty.

Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard are just two of the ex-internationals to have revealed the issues that come with wearing the famous white strip and a string of failures at major events in recent times has only made life in that goldfish bowl all the more intense.