Newcastle striker and Blackburn hero Adam Armstrong greedy for more England goals and glory at Toulon Tournament
Hotshot hopes to cap rollercoaster year, that included World Cup and promotion joy, with more silverware and to provide a reminder of his talents to both club and country
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ADAM ARMSTRONG openly admits his greed when it comes to scoring and winning with England.
The Newcastle striker has just capped off an impressive 12 months by helping fire Blackburn back to the Championship after lifting the Under-20s World Cup last summer.
Now he is desperate to add another trophy to his collection with U21s at the Toulon Tournament.
Armstrong, who also won the U17s Euros with the Young Lions in 2014, said: “You never get tired of winning trophies for your country.
“We know that England have won this the last two years and it’s up to us to come here and do the job again.
“It’s a big tournament that everybody wants to win and hopefully we can get over the line again.”
England can book their spot in the semi-finals against Qatar on Friday if they better Mexico’s result against China.
But Armstrong, somewhat of a veteran in the squad with over 50 caps at youth level, knows he and his team-mates cannot take the minnows lightly.
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And he believes that the lessons learned from the expanded England youth team set-up can only benefit the next generation in helping them step-up onto the big stage.
The Geordie hotshot explained: “When we were younger and looked at the older age groups there was not many games at U18 or U20 level - but that has all changed in recent years.
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“Now we’ve grew up there are lots of games and tournaments at every level – Euros and of course the World Cup.
“There’s a lot of games for players to look forward to now and fight to be involved in. And tournament football is massive and getting to know that environment.
“Obviously the main aim for all of us is to get into the seniors and go to a World Cup, and we are getting plenty of opportunities to get competitive experiences and we have to make them count.”
It has not all been a bed of roses for Armstrong since that momentous day England defeated Venezuala in South Korea last June.
He had a difficult spell on loan at Championship strugglers Bolton in the first half of the campaign where he found match action and goals hard to come by.
Armstrong rediscovered his top form under his old Coventry boss Tony Mowbray at Ewood Park after joining them in January, but he still suffered the disappointment of being left out of the U21 squad in March.
Naturally he is delighted to be back, and he intends to use the opportunity in the South of France to show England head coach Aidy Boothroyd exactly what he is about – and provide a timely reminder of his capabilities to Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez.
Armstrong added: “It’s a great feeling to be back here. I’ve been involved in the set-up since U16s and know what it is all about.
“I missed it when I didn’t get called-up but now the opportunity has come again I really want to push on.
“I understood why I wasn’t included last time, but I just had to keep on working hard for my club at Blackburn and that’s what I did – that’s why I’m here now because of my performances.
“It’s always a striker’s aim to get amongst the goals and if I can do that out here then that can only be a good thing for me.
“Last season was a massive learning curve for me. I’m still only 21 and it’s all about learning but I’ve played over 100 league games now.
“That’s the main thing to keep getting experience, getting as many games as I can and pushing on.”