Conor Coady insists he is fully focused on helping Everton deliver a positive result this weekend, despite his recent England call-up.
The dominant defender, who joined the Blues on a season-long loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August, was called up to Gareth Southgate’s 26-man England squad for this winter's World Cup on Thursday.
His strong start to life at Goodison Park also played a role in him making the Three Lions squad for recent UEFA Nations League clashes with Italy and Germany. He’ll now be hoping to add to his 10 senior caps across the coming weeks in Qatar.
Despite such a momentous occasion lurking on the horizon, Coady is reiterating that his priority is helping Everton this weekend as they aim to secure a crucial three points.
“This is where we play football, I play football for Everton Football Club. I give myself and the best of what I have got every single day to Everton Football Club,” said the 29-year-old.
“The most important thing for me, and I am sure every other England player would tell you the same, is the game this weekend.”
The Toffees travel to Bournemouth for the second time this week on Saturday (3pm GMT kick-off), looking to bounce back after a frustrating Carabao Cup exit at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday night.
After being rested in midweek, Coady could return to Frank Lampard’s starting XI and he knows how important it is for the Blues to try and finish before the break on a high.
“It’s a massive game for us. It’s a huge game and we have spoken about how big it is all week," said Coady.
“There’s no way at any point can we go into that game thinking about anything else other than performing well against Bournemouth and getting a result.”
Although Everton has remained Coady’s primary focus, the defender admitted it had been an anxious wait behind the scenes leading up to Thursday’s squad announcement.
“It’s been the longest week of my life, people want to have a conversation with you, and you feel bad at times because I have been telling them ‘I don’t want to speak about it until it’s out on Thursday’," continued Coady.
“That’s just what I am like. I didn’t want to pre-empt things; I didn’t really want to think about it because it was becoming longer and longer waiting for Thursday. It was tough.
“I was majorly nervous, and when you see the text (confirming selection), it’s not relief, it’s excitement.
“Like ‘how amazing is this? A World Cup for your country’, it’s the most incredible feeling in the world.”
Of course in Lampard, Coady gets the benefit of working under one of England’s greatest-ever midfielders. The boss won 106 senior England caps during his glittering career, and the Blues defender admitted he’s turned to turn his manager in the past for advice.
“I have spoken to him before, he’s one of the greatest midfielders of all time, a fantastic player and a fantastic manager now," he added.
“He’s someone you can speak to about these things, we spoke before the last camp about the Germany game and different things.
“It’s so important to get to speak to someone like him because he’s a fantastic manager and brilliant for all the lads.”
Keep an eye on evertonfc.com throughout the World Cup for regular updates on how all our internationals are performing for their respective nations.
