Really happy and honoured to be selected again for England, says Luke Shaw

Luke Shaw. Pic/AFP

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has admitted that he had given up hope of returning to the England squad before his dramatic return to form this season.

Shaw went to the World Cup with the Three Lions at the tender age of 18 in 2014 and picked up six of his eight caps before turning 21.

His last appearance for Gareth Southgate's side came in a Nations League match with Spain in September 2018, but earlier this week it was announced that he had been recalled due to his impressive recent form for the Reds.

"At times, I made bad mistakes, pulling out of squads may be at times when I shouldn't have. That was down to me. Of course, back then, I was going through bad times. There was in the back of my mind, especially my family and my girlfriend, they thought that it was done," Shaw told United's official website.

"At the start of the season, I had ambitions and sat down with my girlfriend and said that I wanted to get back in the England squad, doing everything I can to be back there. You know, of course, with my form, I thought there was a bigger chance than ever that I could be back in it. Gladly, Gareth's given me another opportunity to be involved in there, so I'm just really happy and honoured to be selected again. Hopefully, I can show Gareth why I deserve a spot in the squad," he added.

Euro 2020 will finally go ahead in June and July, after last year's postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now he has been called back into the national set-up for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with San Marino, Albania and Poland, Shaw has set the target of being part of this summer's pan-European tournament, after disappointingly missing out on the reckoning for Russia 2018.

"Of course, it was expected, my form wasn't brilliant back then. I wasn't playing too much. Of course, you always have hopes as an England player of going to big tournaments like that and you know, they did an amazing World Cup that year. I was happy to sit and watch it but it's one of them where you want to be involved," he said.

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