JAMES Ward-Prowse today finds himself in a strange situation.

One of being tipped for a senior England call by his international manager, but at the same time unable to win a regular starting place in Saints’ Premier League side.

Last April, England boss Roy Hodgson spoke of Ward-Prowse possibly winning elevation from the under-21s later in the year.

But he did not enjoy a great Euro U21 Championship campaign in the summer, and boss Gareth Southgate dropped his captain for their final two games as England were knocked out of the group stage.

Ward-Prowse, 20, who has started half of Saints’ eight league games so far, remained with the under-21 squad for last night’s Euro 2017 qualifier with Kazakhstan in Coventry - a 3-0 win.

Tottenham’s Dele Alli - who was playing on loan for third tier MK Dons last season - made his England debut against Estonia on Friday after earning a call-up ahead of Ward-Prowse.

Southgate moved to ease any fears for the Saints star before last night’s game.

“Roy’s view is that Dele is a different profile of player to James, but James is still somebody that I know Roy likes a lot,” Southgate said.

“He gave a very mature performance for us and he’s started to force his way back into the Southampton side.

“The seniors is a realistic long-term goal for a lot of our lads. How long that takes is a case-by-case basis but for James that can still be a realistic mid-term target for him.”

But surely before he gets the call from Hodgson, he needs to hold down a regular starting spot under Ronald Koeman.

The problem is, though, is where does he fit Ward-Prowse into his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation?

Dusan Tadic is generally the left sided player of the three behind Graziano Pelle, and it appears Sadio Mane’s blistering form will keep him in the central role.

That leaves the right hand midfield slot, where Ward-Prowse appears to be battling with Northern Ireland skipper Steven Davis and Jay Rodriguez.

Koeman, on occasions, has played a 4-1-4-1 formation, and Ward-Prowse and Davis have both started alongside each other.

Ward-Prowse started the recent win against Chelsea on the bench, but made an impact after being brought on.

So far in his Saints league career, he has made 40 starts - and been brought on off the bench 41 times.

The question is an obvious one to ask: How long will Ward-Prowse be happy with his current situation?