JAMES Ward-Prowse has targeted the captain’s armband at Saints.

The 21-year-old is already skipper for England Under-21s’ and led Gareth Southgate’s side to a 3-1 victory over Switzerland on Monday night to maintain their unbeaten run in the Under-21 European Championship qualifiers.

Ward-Prowse scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-1 at Brighton and Hove’s AMEX Stadium as the Young Lions came from behind to claim victory and hold top-spot in Group 9 after four games.

The England Under-21s, who also include Saints’ Matt Targett and Jack Stephens, will travel to Switzerland next March as they look to continue their incredible run of form.

Ward-Prowse admitted that the squad was left buzzing after the win, is pleased with a growing team-spirit and has set himself a target at St Mary's.

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“A few younger lads have come in since the summer and done terrifically well,” he said.

“It’s going take time and we’re not going to reach the levels we want to straight away so it’s a case of training well and getting to know each other more and more and tonight will help that journey.

“It’s always a nice honour for me and to lead them out is fantastic, it’s a pleasure to captain such a great group of lads.

“It’s helped my game and broadened my experience a little bit so I’m enjoying every minute of it.

“I want to try and nail down a permanent spot in the Southampton team, so to come away here and add to my experience and play is great.

“Becoming captain of Southampton is a target for me in the long term so to get this sort of experience now is going to stand me in good stead for that.”

Speaking about the win, he added: “We had a laugh in the changing room as he [Gareth Southgate] gave us a shout of ‘Get in!’ after his little speech at the end so all of the lads were buzzing off it.

“I think we knew it wasn’t going to be easy and tonight was a real test for us.

“It was always going to be a difficult game, but we showed great spirit in the second half.

“We dominated the game for large parts and the manager made it clear at half time that we had to keep our spirits and our belief and we did that.

“We were disappointed to be behind, and off the back of the draw in Bosnia we knew it was a massive game to go top of the group and put it in our control.

“So going into March now, we have a bit of time to relax and look forward.”