James Ward-Prowse has spoken of the message delivered to the England squad by manager Gareth Southgate.

Southgate assembled the Three Lions for a meeting where he outlined his plans to restore the national team as a powerhouse on the international stage.

The England U21 captain, who earned his first senior call-up last week for Wednesday night's friendly with Germany and the weekend's World Cup qualifier with Lithuania, gave some insight into what Southgate said.

"It was a very powerful message," the midfielder said.

"It is one that the Under-21s have received before... the ambitions that he sees for us.

"And you know, we want to establish ourselves as a top team in the world. So it is all about plugging away at those goals and making sure that what we do now stands us in good stead for when we reach major tournaments… we want to be the best in the world. If you want to win major tournaments, then you've got to become that sort of team.

"In every department – the medical side of it, technical and tactical, the operations and the way we things work – we all want to be the best and make sure we give ourselves a chance to succeed."