Tottenham defender Japhet Tanganga hopes his impressive rise can continue when football finally resumes and has set his sights on an England call-up.

The 21-year-old burst on to the scene in January after being surprisingly handed his Premier League debut against Liverpool and he went on to make a further nine appearances before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Those sort of minutes for a young English player is usually enough to get Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate’s attention, with Chelsea’s Fikayo Tomori a good comparison having got his chance after less than half a season in Frank Lampard’s first team.

The defender, who has played all across the back four in his fleeting career, will already be known to Southgate, having represented England at every age group up to the Under-20s.

The 12-month postponement of Euro 2020 could well work out well for Tangana, who is vocal about his desire for a full cap .

“In life you have to have goals and one of my goals is to be capped at senior level for England,” he said. “For me, all I can do is what I can on the pitch and leave it with the England manager to select me.

“All I’m doing at the moment is following the guidelines and waiting for the government to decide when we can go back to football or not. Right now, that’s all I’m focusing on.

“It was crazy. It just goes to show that anything can happen,” he said.

“This time last year could I see myself in this position? I don’t think so. It just goes to show how quickly things can change in football.

“Yeah, there have been moments where I wake up in the morning and remember the morning of the Liverpool game – it was disappointing to lose – but that feeling of making my debut.

“And remembering the congratulations messages from everyone. So this time has allowed me to sit back and reminisce on that breakthrough season. I just want to continue it.”