Walker-Peters: "The manager tells us 'be ready'"

Kyle Walker-Peters has underlined how he's always ready to step up and play his part.

The young full-back has made four appearances so far this season but he admits, whenever he is called upon, he always feels ready to make an impact.

The Academy graduate certainly did that on Boxing Day as, in his first Premier League start of the season, he set up each of our first three goals in the 5-0 win over Bournemouth.

For Kyle, the ability to step up whenever required comes from the hard work that he and his team-mates put in on the training pitches.

“The manager always says to us ‘be ready’ and the training is so intense that when you do get the opportunity like I did against Bournemouth, you are fit and ready,” the defender explained.

“There’s a buzz around the team at the moment, we’re winning games and everyone is confident. When I step on the pitch – even though I don’t play as regularly as some of the boys – I have that confidence as well.”

In the win over the Cherries, the England Under-21 international continued a remarkable personal run of being named Man of the Match in each of his three Premier League starts to date.

Having received the award following last season’s opening and closing day wins over Newcastle United and Leicester City, he picked up the prize for a third time in Wednesday’s victory as he provided a hat-trick of assists and helped secure the clean sheet.

Delighted with his display, the defender admitted that a lot of credit must be given to Christian Eriksen, Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura – the players who finished off his passes.

“I’m just as surprised as probably everyone else is!” Kyle smiled. “I’m happy with it and I have to thank the players who finished my crosses and passes. They got me the assists with their quality.”

His impressive performance was another step forward for the full-back in the early days of his career, but the youngster is well aware that he still has a lot to learn and is simply focusing on working towards earning his next opportunity on the pitch.

“I feel I’m in a good space at the moment. I’m around good players and I’m learning from the full-backs who are in front of me,” he added.

“I’m just focusing on keeping my head down, working hard in training and when the manager does give me an opportunity, I just try to produce the best performance I can.”