Declan Rice has said that there have been times during his England career that he headed into international breaks out of form.
Rice has become a mainstay in the Three Lions midfield, carrying his West Ham performances onto the international stage and helping Gareth Southgate's side to a FIFA World Cup semi-final and an UEFA European Championship final at Wembley Stadium.
To earn an England call-up means that a player is playing at the top of his game for his club and is deserving of the honour.
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But Southgate's most recent squad to face Italy and Germany over this international break features players who are out of form or playing on the bench for their club team.
And Rice has admitted that in the past he has entered the England camp not in form and that sometimes that time away from your club can help turn things around.
"No, I don't think so," replied Rice when asked by talkSPORT whether it's important players are at their best at club level heading into the World Cup. "I feel like, club football, even with me, I've sometimes in the past not come into England not in the best vein of form maybe two years ago.
"But then I've put on an England shirt and I've found my best form again. Playing for your country brings something out of you which you just can't describe."
For Rice and the rest of the Three Lions, there wasn't much break at the end of the 2021/22 season before they were jetting off to represent their country after a long campaign.
The West Ham captain played in 58 fixtures last season, including reaching the UEFA Europa League semi-final, and said that the short turnaround wasn't ideal as England struggled.
“It was a tough period, we came off the back of a long season,” said Rice. "It was like a mini pre-season in a way. When you stop for a week and get going again it's harder than people think.
“We didn’t have the best results in the first game and then it carried on.
“But there were positive signs even though the results probably didn’t go our way we should’ve won the Italy game, the Germany game we obviously created the better chances.
“It’s about how you react as a team and stick together.”
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