I'm convinced England can make the final because we're playing very well. The confidence within the squad has obviously grown throughout the tournament and the strength of the squad is just absolutely ridiculous.

The manager has made some tactical and personnel changes throughout the tournament and it has worked because the standard of the player he is bringing in is absolutely brilliant. It's not weakening the team at all and they are all delivering and none of them sulking that they are not playing. You look at the reaction of Jordan Henderson when the second goal went in against Germany, that's pure. That's not put on for the cameras, that was just pure honest adrenaline and passion.

The last game against Ukraine was outstanding. Jadon Sancho came in for his first start and was brilliant. The manager has got fantastic possibilities. It's tough in one way because you don't want to leave out players who are playing well and training well, but there are just too many to fit in. He can change the formation and the players who can adapt to it.

DENMARK THREAT

You sometimes hear that against Denmark, England should win, but make no mistake, it will be a tough contest against a team who are fighting for so many different causes so they just have to take it with caution.

It's fantastic to see Christian Eriksen up and about, getting back to full health. It's driven them on and seemed to galvanise the squad and given them a real spirit and they've been terrific. Obviously England have got them in the semi-final and it's not going to be easy for many reasons. They've got that togetherness and spirit, they're a very good squad.

But a big factor for me in the game is that they have such a high number of players with Premier League experience. So they know the England lads and what they are coming up against as they've faced them many times, experiencing their strengths and weaknesses. So they'll know far more about the England team than any of their past opposition might have.

SOUTHGATE'S SQUAD AND EURO 96

The current England squad is right up there with those great teams of the past 20 or 30 years. This current run is very similar to Euro 96.

We don't want the outcome that happened then, but what happened was the team took the nation with them and the nation took the team with them, they combined together. And I get the feeling with this one, even though I'm watching it from Dubai, but even the expats over here, it is electric. Everyone is behind the team, the players are sharing their emotions with the fans.

England are full of confidence ahead of the Denmark clash

So this is very much up there with the Euro 96 scenario. I'm just hoping they can go two steps further and win the trophy. The difference with this group is that the quality of the entire squad is phenomenally high, and I emphasise the word squad. There's outstanding players everywhere you turn. Players who are playing at clubs who are winning the major trophies in domestic football.

That's the difference. You judge top teams by what they've got on the bench. If the manager has to change things tactically for injuries or suspensions, is that going to weaken the team if they have to change the personnel? This isn't happening with the current England team.

The team continues to play at a high standard no matter what formation or personnel, the substitutes that are coming on are making an impact like Grealish against Germany. It's certainly an exciting time to be an England fan.

LEMINA & THE TAKEOVER

I saw a lot of Mario Lemina at Fulham last season. He is a player with a lot of Premier League experience. Steve Bruce seems desperate to bolster the central midfield area. He's done it over the last couple of transfer windows.

In terms of not paying for a player of Lemina's age of 28, that has been a policy of Mike's for some time. If you give them a three or four year contract, which is usually the minimum for a Premier League player now, then you are probably not going to get any resale value on the player. That's the way Mike looks at it. What Mike doesn't look at is that if that player comes in for those three or four years and brings success to the club, he's thinking about what will happen when he goes to sell him again.

A lot of these deals will rest on the takeover. Mike is going to be very cautious. There is the ongoing debate with the case at the arbitrator so there is still hope the deal will go through. From what Amanda Staveley and Mike have said in recent days it certainly seems they are both up for the deal, they both still want it to happen as soon as possible. So there is caution from Mike not wanting to spend a lot more money if he believes the takeover has a strong chance of going through.

JOE WILLOCK

It would be an unbelievable lift for the whole city and the club if they could get Joe Willock to return.

Willock was an outstanding addition last season. Most Newcastle fans will have their fingers crossed, praying that the deal could become permanent. For a midfield player to score seven goals in his last seven leagues was remarkable. It would be great for a striker to get that return but for an attacking midfielder it was unbelievable, and by all accounts he's a terrific lad around the place.

I wouldn't have thought Arsenal would loan him out again after what he did last season. If they were going to let him go, which I would think would be a strange decision anyway, but if they were, they would be looking for a hefty transfer fee wherever he went.

Willock celebrated plenty at Newcastle

RAFA WILL THRIVE

I think Rafa Benitez will be a huge success at Everton if he's backed.

There's this talk about the fact Farhad Moshiri has had many managers at Everton. But if you asked them all, I think they would say they have been backed by the owner in the transfer market. With Rafa's experience, quality and knowledge, that combination could prove very inspirational.

As far as the Merseyside rivalry goes, Rafa did a fantastic job at Liverpool. I've seen his quotes about Everton when he was in charge of Liverpool. And he came out with the perfect response which I believe is the right way to go about it.

He said whichever club employs me I'm fighting for them, I'm fighting for that badge and if I have got to do things against other clubs to get those results then I'll do it and I'll be doing the same for Everton, and he's totally spot on.

This stuff with these banners is getting out of hand. Steve Bruce has had to put up with it during his whole time as Newcastle manager, some of them are real personal attacks.

It's unacceptable. This is a football club. These guys want to go into clubs and do the job to the best of their ability, they want to be successful.

With Rafa, you're talking about a manager who has won biggest prizes in world football. So I think it's the old adage, results will calm everyone down and Rafa is a manager who gets results.