Conor Coady has dismissed the idea he is heading to the upcoming World Cup as a 'tourist' and is prepared to give maximum effort whenever called upon by Gareth Southgate.
The Everton defender was unofficially declared England's player of the tournament by assistant manager Steve Holland during Euro 2020 for the camaraderie he helped create among the group despite failing to feature for the Three Lions.
Coady will look to have a similar impact in Qatar having been reunited with the group but faces a battle on his hands to force his way into Southgate's starting eleven.
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While fully committed to supporting the group throughout regardless of whether he features, the 29-year-old has insisted he is not there to simply make up the numbers. Jokingly asked what a good tourist looks like at a World Cup, he told reporters: "He has just called me a tourist! I don't think of myself as that [a tourist] if I'm being honest, I think of myself as a player who's coming to try and affect, to try and help as much as I possibly can and to push everyone.
"I've said it plenty of times before, if you're not going to play in a team, what are you going to do? You're going to sit and talk and go back to your room or are you going to try and give the best of yourself to try and push people as much as you possibly can?
"That's all I want to do, I want to help if I'm called upon, I'll be there to help as much as I can. But in terms of thinking myself as that (a tourist) I don't. I think of myself as a football player that will try and help as much as I can and I won't change that attitude, I won't change that way of playing."
Aware he has been the subject of jokes after receiving recognition from Holland for the exemplary standards he sets behind the scenes, Coady has shared he is able to take such comments in his stride due to the pride that comes with being on international duty.
“I get loads [of stick] about the Euros and different things but it’s just the most exciting time in the world for everybody. A World Cup comes around every four years and it’s something that we all look forward to and I’m no different," he said.
“I’m just lucky enough that I get to come and play with these fantastic players, I get to come and work under a fantastic manager and all his staff and enjoy every minute of it."
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