The Manchester City teenage midfielder marked his first call-up to the Young Lions squad by producing a fine debut display in last Thursday’s 7-0 win over Under-21 European Championship qualifier over Andorra.
The victory sealed England’s place at next summer’s Under-21 European Championship finals in Italy and San Marino with Aidy Boothroyd’s side now wrapping up their qualifying schedule away to Scotland tomorrow evening.
It was the latest landmark in Foden‘s rise through the international ranks with the Stockport-born youngster having already won three Under-19s caps, two Under-18s and 23 Under-17s caps.
Reflecting on what has been a memorable past few days with the Under-21s squad, Foden said: “It has been great, and I have enjoyed it a lot. Meeting new faces and mixing with such great players, it has been really good.
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“I enjoyed it a lot against Andorra. I was just happy to play and make my Under-21 debut alongside such great players and I think that I learnt a lot from it.
“The key I think was just to play my own game. I just wanted to really enjoy it and to get minutes out of the game was good for me and I just wanted to play the way I normally do.
“I’ve worked with (Under-21s specialist coach) Lee Carsley at City before so coming in here. I know what he’s like so that helped a lot in terms of just slotting in smoothly.
“I’ve also seen the nice comments that the manager and people like Owen Hargreaves said about me after the game and obviously it gives you lots of confidence.
“The key going into the Scotland game is just to do the same again. We want to try and play some more good football, so nothing changes from that point of view.”
Alongside his impressive progress at City, with Phil notching up his first goal for the Club in last month’s 3-0 Carabao Cup victory away at Oxford, the 18-year-old’s latest international recognition has cemented a fine start to the 2018/19 season.
And as looked ahead to the rest of the campaign, Foden said the key was to continue to work hard and to seek to make the most of his opportunities.
Foden added: “I definitely set myself a lot of targets. My aim this season is just to try and get some more games in and, hopefully, score a couple more goals.
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“I don’t feel any different with the Under-21s. To me it’s just the same.
“I keep making a step forward. There’s one big step to go towards the senior squad and hopefully I get there soon.
“Working along such great players I definitely think I’m improving every day, so I just want to keep working hard.”
