Jonjo Shelvey wants England chance and says he has learned from his disciplinary issues

Jonjo Shelvey says he has “ironed out” his disciplinary issues, has learned from being sent off for stamping on Dele Alli and is desperate to earn a World Cup spot with England.

At the start of the year, with his disciplinary record still hanging over his head following a fifth career red card and third inside a year, Shelvey was set for a summer on the beach with football far from his mind.

Ahead of a potential fourth straight win at Arsenal on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, the 26-year-old has become the dark horse to make Gareth Southgate’s final 23, more than two years since his last England appearance.

Tony Cottee has already called him “England’s best passer” this week on the back of a string of impressive performances, and Shelvey himself knows he can only keep doing what he’s doing on the pitch.

Since returning from his second red card this season, against Everton in December, the midfielder has not been booked, and says he has been working to “iron out” his reputation – and the man who apparently turned down England U21s, a claim he vehemently denies, is desperate to earn a place in the World Cup squad.

“I’d love to go to the World Cup. It’d be such an amazing achievement and every kid’s dream is to go to the World Cup and play for your country,” he told Sky Sports.

“But there’s only so much I can do in terms of on the pitch and off it to get into that squad, and then it’s down to the manager to select you.

“You can say anything about disciplinary issues but I had two red cards this season, the first one [a stamp on Dele Alli] was very stupid and I feel like I’ve learned from it, but the second one I had to make the foul to stop the geezer from going through and scoring.

“That’s just part-and-parcel of what happens in football. Look at the yellow card situation, and I’m probably one of the lower ones in the Premier League.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a discipline thing, I think it’s from the past and obviously that’s the reputation I’ve got, but I think I’ve done a lot to iron that out.

“I speak for probably every English player out there that you want to go. You can have six weeks off, lying in the sun, but you don’t want that.

“It’s nice that a lot of the pundits are coming out and saying I deserve a chance to be selected. I think that’s down to what I’ve been doing on the pitch. Everyone knows I can pass the ball and that I’ve got a good footballing ability.

“You want to go to the World Cup, to keep playing football. I booked my holidays probably 3-4 months ago when I was miles away from a call-up, but I’d lose all that money just to get a chance to go.”

The numbers stack up in Shelvey’s favour for Southgate to include him in the final squad. Of his midfield rivals, only Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has a better rate of chance creation all season, and Jordan Henderson in terms of passes into the final third.

It has been quite a transformation from the midfielder who struggled during his opening months on Tyneside to the one running the Magpies midfield, something the player himself credits to manager Rafa Benitez.

“I’ve been playing very well, but I owe a lot to the manager and my team-mates,” he said. “It’s quite easy to come in and play the way I have been because of how we all work together and the team spirit.

“I think the Championship season was good to drop down and get that confidence back, and the run of games to show I can be consistent, and I feel like I’ve taken that into this season as well.

“Rafa is very tactical. He’s a very detailed coach, yesterday he kept the four midfielders after training to do a passing thing where you’re looking over your shoulder to see if the opponent is coming. It was weird, he was using bibs up in the air and you had to shout out the colour of the bibs. It’s something I’d never done before, but you can tell it’s paying off.

“He pushes us every day. He’s always on to us in training about stepping up a gear, and you’d think being on 38 points it would come down a notch but the tackles are still flying in and everyone still wants to win, which is good.

“I think he’s been good for my career. He’s made me understand the game a lot better, and tactically. I owe that to him.”

(c) Sky News 2018: Jonjo Shelvey wants England chance and says he has learned from his disciplinary issues