Burnley captain Tom Heaton admits it will be an “incredible” feeling if he is recalled to the England squad next week.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper, capped three times, made his last international appearance in June 2017.
Heaton was then sidelined for the majority of the 2017-18 season due to a dislocated shoulder before making Southgate’s standby list ahead of last summer’s World Cup, and has not been involved since.
Having spent Burnley’s first 19 Premier League games this term on the bench while Joe Hart was in goal, Heaton then replaced the dropped summer signing following the 5-1 loss to Everton on Boxing Day.
Heaton has played in all 10 league matches since that thrashing, the first eight of which saw the Clarets go unbeaten and win five times.
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Southgate names his squad on Wednesday for Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.
And when Heaton was asked on Friday what it would mean to him to be back in the squad, he said: “If selected it would be incredible. “I obviously had a nasty injury, quite a while ago now.
But then getting back fit, then not getting in the team – which was frustrating so it will be a nice marker for me. “I certainly feel like I’ve got a lot more to give. Hopefully (it will be) the first step on another journey.”
