West Brom’s Livermore keen to keep feet on the ground

Jake Livermore is desperate to impress Gareth Southgate and force his way into the England side, but the midfielder’s main focus is still retaining his place in the West Brom team.

The powerful box-to-box midfielder has been a revelation since joining Tony Pulis’ side in January from Hull City.

The 27-year-old has provided the Baggies with energy, pace and creativity – which has caught Southgate’s eye.

Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

It is almost five years since Livermore’s one and only England cap, a friendly against Italy after Euro 2012, and now he is hoping to add to that total against Germany and Lithuania.

“It’s very nice to be rewarded with a call-up but the hard work has to be done out there and hopefully I can get into the next squad,” said Livermore.

“That’s the idea. To be honest I touched on it before but my main focus was trying to cement a place in this Albion team and do well for my club and anything on top of that was a bonus and it certainly has been.

“It certainly gives you a nice buzz, yes. It gives you that added confidence which, as any player will tell you, is something you can’t put your finger on but it definitely gives you a lift.

“Saturday was all about us against Arsenal and now that’s all out of the way I turn my focus to England.”