Sam Field is looking forward to the challenge of facing teams from across the world as England Under-20s begin their Maurice Revello Toulon Tournament campaign on Friday.
The Albion midfielder was called up by Young Lions boss Paul Simpson earlier this week to play in the prestigious youth competition for the first time alongside fellow Baggies Academy graduate Kyle Edwards.
And Sam says he can’t wait to pull on the shirt and test himself on the international stage over in France.
“Any time you get the chance to represent England is a massive honour, and it’s something I’m very proud of,” he explained.
“Me and Kyle will do our best and try to show why we’ve been selected and why we should keep being selected.
“The beauty of tournaments like this is that you’re competing against teams that are from halfway across the world, and you see where we stand with them.
“We’ve got Japan in the first game, and I’ve never played a team like that before. It’ll be a new test and it’s something I’m really looking forward to, seeing what their standard of football is and comparing it to ours.”
The Young Lions have won the last three editions of the tournament under Gareth Southgate (2016), Neil Dewsnip (2017) and Aidy Boothroyd (2018) and are favourites to retain it for a fourth consecutive time this summer, but Field insists that’s just part and parcel of representing England nowadays.
He added: “There’s a bit of pressure on us there!
“The ethos at England has changed, definitely, and the ethos now, especially at youth level, is to go and compete very heavily in every tournament we go into.
“The aim is definitely to go out and win, no-one is looking anywhere else. That’s the main target.”
