Ahead of England's Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany, Jack Grealish discusses his Manchester City form, pressure from the media, his relationship with Pep Guardiola, "very harsh" criticism of Gareth Southgate and more; England face Italy on Friday and Germany on Monday
Jack Grealish says England are "aware" of the threat of Nations League relegation but insists the squad are embracing the challenge ahead of their final two games before the World Cup.
England will be relegated if they lose Friday's San Siro clash against Italy before taking on old foes Germany on Monday - the final match of their last camp before the World Cup gets under way in November.
"I think for us, it's something we're obviously aware of, but something that we're all embracing," Grealish said.
"Especially, I'm not going to speak for the manager, but I'm sure he's got certain players that are 100 per cent to go to the World Cup, and then there's obviously certain places and numbers that are still up for grabs. We're just all training as normal.
"We have two matches now that are going to be very tough opposition and this is really like your pre-World Cup camp.
"We were saying before that before the Euros we had a good few weeks of training sessions, good friendlies, and we're not going to get that this time.
"But everyone's in the same boat, so it's something that we need to embrace and look forward to."
England unite with European countries to fight discrimination
England will join forces with the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales in a campaign against discrimination.
Originally initiated by the Dutch, the OneLove campaign will use the power of football to promote inclusion and send a message against discrimination of any kind as the eyes of the world fall on the global game. The message will be symbolised by respective men’s national team captains wearing the distinctive OneLove armband.
The FA’s public commitment to the campaign will begin for England’s UEFA Nations League match against Italy in Milan on Friday 23 September, with captain Harry Kane wearing the OneLove armband.
All eight nations that have qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup will then adopt the OneLove armband – which carries a heart containing colours representative of all backgrounds – for fixtures at this winter’s tournament with the intention to continue through to the end of the season.
When A3 was drawn, Hungary quickly appeared to be the favourites to finish bottom of this highly-competitive group, but Marco Rossi's side have collected seven points from their first four games and currently sit top of the table.
Hungary's most recent fixture saw them pull off a shock 4-0 win over England at Wembley in June. Their game against Germany in Leipzig on Friday will be crucial, with the winners knowing another victory on the final matchday on Monday will guarantee them a spot in the finals.
Group A3: Remaining fixtures
Germany vs Hungary - Leipzig, Friday September 23
Italy vs England - Milan, Friday September 23
England vs Germany - Wembley, Monday September 26
Hungary vs Italy - Budapest, Monday September 26
Italy are just two points behind Hungary and face them in Budapest next week, meaning the European champions are very much still in contention in Group A3.
The only team that cannot reach the finals are England, who are winless and face a tough task to avoid the ignominy of relegation to League B for the first time.
Defeat to Italy on Friday will confirm relegation for Gareth Southgate's team, who realistically must win in Milan and at home to Germany on Monday if they want to stay up.
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