Southampton's James Ward-Prowse will learn his England fate today

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate will this afternoon name his squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro with Ward-Prowse tipped for inclusion.

Saints academy product Ward-Prowse has been in the form of his life in recent months having scored six times in his last nine Premier League matches to top off a string of man-of-the-match displays.

Southgate’s assistant, Steve Holland, was at St Mary’s on Saturday to see another stunning Ward-Prowse goal which proved to be the winner against Tottenham.

England manager Gareth Southgate

His hard work and progress at Saints looks set to be rewarded with international recognition.

Southgate is a fan of Ward-Prowse having managed him at England youth level and handed him his only senior cap so far which came against Germany two years ago this week.

Ward-Prowse has flourished under Ralph Hasenhuttl having initially found himself frozen out of the new manager’s plans.

“I think he didn’t have a good start with me,” admitted the Saints boss.

“At first he was in the stands. I didn’t know him and what I saw in training was that he can play good football but the work against the ball and winning the ball was not his biggest strength.

“That was what I told him and then I saw a guy who was working on his deficits and then it’s football so you get a chance to play and if you get it then you grab it with both hands and you get the chance to play again and again.

“I think he learned very quick what I want to see and finally he came into positions to score.

“Maybe it is better with the shape he is playing at the moment and this helps him a lot.”

The key to Ward-Prowse’s development, according to Hasenhuttl, has been his willingness to knuckle down in training and the manager is keen to reward such discipline with first team chances.

“I’m a manager who is looking also on the training sessions how good they are, how much they work,” he insisted.

“I had the feeling now, for example, with Josh Sims, he had a fantastic week.

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl

“Everybody was maybe expecting that I brought on Stuie Armstrong immediately but I think Simsy deserved to play and then you should give the signal you are looking at what happens during the week.

“If I have the feeling someone is in good shape then he should get the chance to play.”

Ward-Prowse has also gained attention for his superb free kicks having netted stunners in back-to-back games against Manchester United and Tottenham, something which England could benefit from.

“If they need a good free kick taker then they should pick him,” smiled Hasenhuttl.

“I know this is always a situation for him where the goalkeeper is a little bit frightened and he doesn’t know what side he is shooting.

“I thought that maybe he tries to the other side (against Tottenham) but he was so self-confident with this side and no chance for the keeper in this fantastic way.”