Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon has revealed that he never considered playing for Scotland over England. The 23-year-old, who has been called up to the senior squad for the first time to play in friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium at Wembley in the coming days, said a switch of international allegiance to Scotland was "never a thought".
Gordon, who was named player of the tournament at the U21's Euros last year where he helped England to victory, could have chosen to play for either the Republic of Ireland or Scotland due to his heritage. His grandparents are Scottish. However, he insisted that he had always dreamed of playing for England since he was a child.
He said: "It was never a thought for me," before adding: "That's no disrespect to Scotland, that's all. I've been tunnel-visioned on playing for England since I was five or six years old. Nothing could ever shake that off.
"I could never forgive myself if I hadn't got to this point. Like I said, it is just a dream I've had from so young so nothing else has ever entered my mind at any time."
Born in Liverpool, Gordon's desire to wear the Three Lions of England was inspired by local boys he admired as a youngster.
"I think I've always just wanted to be at the very top of football," he said.
"I think that's every kid's dream who likes football. I think as a young English kid, that is the pinnacle to play for your country so it is no extra motivation or a great story but just that.
"For me, it was always (Wayne) Rooney and (Steven) Gerrard because they were from similar areas.
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"I always used to run around the garden from the youngest age I can remember and try and recreate goals, create my own types of goals. I looked up to them massively."
Despite both captaining their country, neither Rooney nor Gerrard ever won international silverware Gordon and the current crop are aiming to do just that and he believes tapping into the recent Under-21 success can only help.
"Most definitely because the standard of the Under-21s is so high," he said.
"Our team was a really, really good team. A lot of them played Premier League week in, week out at some big clubs.
"Being in those environments, wanting to showcase what you can do, prepares you for this environment and I'm very thankful for all the experiences I had with the youth teams."
Gordon will be hoping to take the step up to senior football in his stride and admits it was added motivation when Southgate had spoken just how close he had come to picking the Newcastle man in previous squads.
"(It was) very reassuring I was performing well," he added.
"I was working hard, the season was going well for me. Just to hear him say that I was in the thoughts and close.
"It gave me just a little boost to carry on knowing I'm not too far away and in the games, made me run just that little bit harder."
