West Ham's Bowen proving why Southgate should send him to World Cup

It was a Monday night and Jarrod Bowen and his five friends were the only customers underneath the creaking old beams of the Chequers pub in Leominster.

The West Ham winger and his pals were there for England's opening game of the World Cup. They watched Gareth Southgate's side toil away against Tunisia and cheered when Harry Kane scored the injury-time winner.

He spent most of his weekends there that summer three years ago. Bowen was home after finishing the season at Hull as top scorer and their player of the season. What better way to enjoy some deserved down-time. 

 It's unlikely to be the case when the next World Cup arrives. Bowen could be at the heart of it. He is the stand-out England player of the season. Eight goals and eight assists for West Ham in the Premier League. Only Mo Salah has more combined.

Come November, it could be those same five friends, in the same pub, watching their mate play for England. 'That's obviously the dream, isn't it,' smiles Bowen. 'That would be lovely.'

On current form, Gareth Southgate cannot overlook him. For Bowen, there's still more to come.

'I can probably be better than I think I am now, if I'm honest with myself. I think I know how good I can be and I think it's all starting to come into place. It's all clicking together. I know how well I can play and I want to get to those levels.' 

In what ways? 'Just my all-round game,' he adds. 'There's plenty more goals I could have scored already this season. I'm probably talking about 15 goals already. They haven't gone in and I'm hard on myself, saying that's where I need to improve if I want to go on to another level again.' 

He uses Salah as the benchmark. 'That's what you base it on - off the very best. And I think Salah is the