Defender was in danger of missing out on Brazil 2014.
England right-back Glen Johnson has claimed that his young Liverpool team-mates have inspired him to compete at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, according to reports in the Daily Mirror.
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The attacking full back’s place at the tournament had been in some doubt after he was forced to miss part of this season with a series of niggling knee and groin injuries.
However, Johnson is now fit again and he claims it is the plethora of y0ung Reds stars in the Three Lions setup who have driven him to regain full fitness.
“Having five Liverpool players obviously helped me. The more you play together, the more you understand each other on the pitch,” he said.
“Sturridge and Sterling have been sensational this season. They’re two fantastic players and they’ve learned from playing every week and are improving all the time.
“They weren’t that involved in the qualifying games and at the start of the season they might not have been considered as World Cup contenders.
“But they’ve done their talking on the pitch and are flying at the moment. So they definitely deserve to be playing.
“It’s an important step towards the World Cup.
“You want to win as many games as you can in the build-up, get the momentum going. There’s only three or four more games before Brazil so this was an important game.
“We’ve only been together two or three days so it’s important we get back to winning ways, especially in front of our own supporters. We’re heading in the right direction.”