PAUL Simpson has given his verdict on England's progress in the 2022 Qatar World Cup and spoke about his time in the England youth set-up.

During his managerial career, Simpson spent a number of years in the England youth set-up, including winning the World Cup with Under-20 squad in 2017.

This is a time that Paul Simpson reflects on with fondness and he also spoke about earmarking a few young England prospects in that period.

He said: "I do feel proud that I was involved with some of them, the likes of Mason Mount, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Aaron Ramsdale.

"I played a small part in their international development being with them, so we always knew that these lads wwre good players.

"We always had it in our minds, the lads that took part in the Under-17 World Cup, the ones that were in the 19s Euros and then the group that I worked with in the Under-20 World Cup, we knew there was potential to go on and be future international stars."

Paul Simpson also gave he thoughts on the progress made so far by Gareth Southgate's side at the winter tournament and weighed in on the debate about who should be fronting the England offence.

He said: "It's a lovely problem to have isn't it.

"If you've got that sort of ability at your disposal it's a great problem to have and hopefully he chooses the right ones.

"When you go into these tournaments, you go in with an idea in your mind about what the team is going to be so I'm quite sure Gareth had it in his mind that Phil Foden was gonna start in one of the games.

"I just hope that whoever he does select [on Sunday] that they are all smiling at the end and we are through to the next round."

READ MORE: Paul Simpson slams 'disrespectful' officials after Walsall FA Cup incident