Declan Rice ready for highlight of career when England face Scotland

Declan Rice will be keen to keep his place in the England side for Friday’s Euro 2020 clash with Scotland. (Glyn Kirk/AP)

Declan Rice is ready for what he believes will be a highlight of his whole career as England prepare to face Scotland at Euro 2020.

The Three Lions host their oldest rivals at Wembley on Friday night looking to continue their winning start to Group D.

England won 1-0 against Croatia on Sunday and will be keen to maintain the momentum by seeing off Scotland.

Just getting started! Great win and performance to start the euros! The support today was incredible. Thank you🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @England pic.twitter.com/Xc1tSuatkT

— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) June 13, 2021

Despite winning their opening fixture at a European Championship for the first time, Rice is keen to move on to preparations for what he feels will be a memorable clash.

“We’re buzzing,” he said following the Croatia victory.

“Steve Holland said after the game that we can enjoy tonight but tomorrow we have to crack on.

We know the history with Scotland. We know the type of game it will be. We want to focus on the Scotland game and repeat the same performance.

Declan Rice

“The game on Friday will probably go down in our careers as one of the most memorable games you will ever play.

“We know the history with Scotland. We know the type of game it will be. We want to focus on the Scotland game and repeat the same performance.

“They’ve got some top players who play in the Premier League. Che Adams, John McGinn and Scott (McTominay) in the middle are two warriors and Andy Robertson and (Kieran) Tierney at the back are great leaders and players.

“We are not going into it and say it is going to be easy because that will be wrong.

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay was one of several Scotland players singled out for praise by Rice. (Andrew Milligan/PA)

“They are going to come and be physical and we need to match that and do more. We need to be ready and we will be ready.”

Rice enjoyed a fine season at West Ham, playing a key role in guiding the Hammers to Europa League qualification.

The 22-year-old feels the experience of the past 12 months has helped him perform on the biggest stage after making his tournament debut for England at the weekend.

Declan Rice helped West Ham qualify for Europe last season. (Justin Tallis/PA)

“We knew we had to be at the top level,” he said of the performance required to beat Croatia.

“I would have backed myself a few years ago to go out and perform at a high level but maybe had some doubts.

“Fortunately, I’ve been able to do it since after the season and performances that I have had with England recently I had full confidence to go out there and perform at a high standard.”