Drinkwater guarded on England hopes

Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater remains cautious on his hopes of heading to Euro 2016 despite being included in England’s provisional squad.

Drinkwater has a place in Roy Hodgson’s 26-man provisional squad but the 26-year-old fears he could be one of the three who miss out on the final party of 23.

The Foxes star was named man of the match in his one and only Three Lions appearance to date, a 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in March, but with competition from the likes of Jack Wilshere, Fabian Delph, Ross Barkley and Jordan Henderson, the midfielder feels his place is not guaranteed.

He told the BBC: “I’m just trying to do what I’m best at and if that doesn’t get me in then I’ll have to hold my hands up. “There’s some real talent in the midfield, so if I miss out I’ll make it a target [to get in the England squad in the future].”

England are available at 9.00 to win Euro 2016 and Drinkwater’s club and country team-mate Jamie Vardy is a 41.00 fancy to be the top goalscorer in France.

Drinkwater’s immediate priority may be on securing a place on the plane to France in June but he is already thinking about next season with Leicester.

The East Midlands outfit produced one of the greatest sporting shocks of all time by landing the Premier League title and Drinkwater insists they can defend the trophy, and he is relishing the prospect of Champions League football at the King Power Stadium.

He added: “We want to try to retain the trophy – it’s a target, plus we’re new to the Champions League at the club. “Hopefully we can impress in that and retain the title at the same time.”

Leicester are 26.00 to win the Premier League 2016/17 outright, with Manchester City rated as the 2.63 favourites at this stage.