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“Mentally stronger” Welbeck ready to fire for England

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"Mentally stronger" Welbeck ready to fire for England

England striker Danny Welbeck says he has emerged mentally stronger after a knee injury ruled him out of the 2016 European Championships.

The 27-year-old Arsenal FC striker is now keen to make an impact in next month’s World Cup in Russia.

Welbeck was sidelined for eight months after undergoing surgery for the knee problem but he has since forced his way back into England manager Gareth Southgate’s plans.

“Missing out on the last tournament with injury was frustrating for me,” Welbeck told British media.

“If you get a big injury, it is not easy at all to deal with it. It’s a lonely period when you’re not out on the pitch helping your team mates and doing what you love doing.

“You can develop mentally when you’re away from the pitch.

“You can take all that frustration, pain and hurt from not playing and try and use that as a way of helping you and reminding you of what you are missing out on.”

Welbeck has 15 international goals in 37 matches, the most for any player in the squad bound for Russia and three more than first choice striker Harry Kane.

He will look to add to his tally when England take on Nigeria in a friendly on Saturday.

“I haven’t pointed that out to the manager, he knows all the ins and outs but that is something I want to build on,” Welbeck added ahead of the match at Wembley.

“I have had a lot of success on the international stage and I want that to continue.”

England open their World Cup campaign with a Group G encounter against Tunisia in Volgograd on June 18.

They then take on Panama in Nizhny Novgorod on June 24, and finally Belgium in Kaliningrad four days later.

NEWSVERGE, published by The Verge Communications is an online community of international news portal and social advocates dedicated to bringing you commentaries, features, news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective. A unique organization, founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, comprising of ordinary people with an overriding commitment to seeking the truth and publishing it without fear or favour. The Verge Communications is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a corporate organization.

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