Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek believes England have a good chance of winning the summer World Cup with the ‘frightening talent’ within the group of players. The 22-year-old enjoyed a fruitful loan spell with Crystal Palace last term and he is now expected to play a key role for the Three Lions after being picked in Gareth Southgate’s squad.

Speaking to reporters, Loftus-Cheek admitted that the Three Lions have the capability to spring a surprise at this summer’s World Cup despite their average record at major tournaments of late, he said: “I think it would be stupid to rule us out. In training, you look about at the talent and it's frightening. I think we have a good chance. The squad is so young but so good at the same time. If we can deliver when it matters – and the boys can do that – we could have a really good tournament.”

England suffered a surprise group-stage exit during the previous edition of the World Cup in Brazil and they have since succumbed to another failure at Euro 2016 where they were shocked by minnows Iceland. Despite this, the mood within the current crop of players has remained upbeat and Southgate will be aiming for better results this time around.

The Three Lions have been pitted against Panama, Tunisia, and Belgium in their World Cup group but based on their progress of late, and they should at least be expecting to reach the quarter-final stage with Poland being their only main threat in the round of 16. Nevertheless, Harry Kane’s showing could remain essential with the Three Lions have drawn blank in two of their previous four international friendlies. The form of Danny Welbeck and Marcus Rashford remains a worry in the lead-up to the World Cup and both Kane and Jamie Vardy may need to find their goalscoring boots.