Ollie Watkins urges England to top group but World Cup contenders wary of Antoine Semenyo threat

Ollie Watkins has urged England to cement their status as among the favourites to win this summer’s World Cup by qualifying for the knockout rounds with a game to spare. The Three Lions underlined their potential with an impressive 4-2 win over Croatia in their Group L opener last Wednesday, recovering from being pegged back twice to 2-2 in the first half with a superb second-half performance in which Jude Bellingham and substitute Marcus Rashford sealed victory. That victory for Thomas Tuchel’s side meant they put one foot in the last 32, while a win in Tuesday’s clash with Ghana would cement their progression. Top spot could then be sealed if Panama fail to beat 2018 runners-up Croatia in the day’s other Group L clash, meaning the final game against Panama on Saturday would be a dead rubber. Watkins said: “I think that every game you play you want to win, we’re preparing now for the game at hand doing all we can to win. “We want to top the group. We want to win every game and progress through the next round. “I think that’s everyone’s aim at the end of the day, but we’re in a good position so far. We need to keep building on the Croatia performance.” Ghana are rated 65th in the world and, on ranking, are England’s weakest opponents of the group stage. Ollie Watkins in training ahead of England’s second match against Ghana (Getty) However, Manchester City star Antoine Semenyo will provide a big threat and England will need to be on their guard. But Watkins revealed Tuchel will be more bothered by what his side do. The Aston Villa striker added: “To be fair, the thing I like about this manager is obviously he highlights their threats – we know Semenyo is a great player as you’ve seen in the last few seasons – but he focuses a lot on ourselves and what we try to do with the ball, and how we’re trying to dominate them, and what we’re doing out of possession, in possession, some tactical things we can do to hurt them. “That’s a really positive thing that I’ve seen from the manager.”