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There is a former Aston Villa captain who has been at the front and centre of celebrations of late. Not Tyrone Mings, admittedly, even though he helped his club qualify for Europe for the first time in 13 years as a season that began with him stripped of the armband and his place in the team ended with him a pivotal part of Unai Emery’s remarkable revival. Villa clinched seventh place with a last-day win over Tottenham. “After the final game I was in bed by about 11 o’clock with a Ribena,” said Mings wryly. “Other juices obviously are available.” Jack Grealish has tasted a few of them. The £100 million man has looked the party animal, enjoying Manchester City’s treble with the relish he brings to much else. “He’s had a great time, hasn’t he?” said Mings. A night out with his old Villa teammate Grealish, he can testify, is not for the faint-hearted. “It is extremely wild,” he added. “The only thing he needs to do is do it at the right times and he’s just won the treble so I don’t think anybody can begrudge him going out and letting his hair down - those luscious locks of his now he has taken the hairband out. He’s certainly had a good few days.” Part of Grealish’s appeal is that he can seem the likeable Jack the lad: unpolished, at times undiplomatic, but natural. “It’s important to be yourself, whatever that looks like,” Mings said. “It adds to the game and dressing room. It adds to the culture and authenticity is a tough trait to come across. Football is sometimes just a reflection of society, isn’t it? Or like a reflection of everybody’s life.” Grealish’s seems more eventful than most. “Surely he’s all partied out,” said the defender. They have been photographed on breaks abroad before but Mings was quick to draw a distinction. “I’ve bumped into him on holiday,” he said. “I’ve never put myself in the position of where I’ve actually flown out with him! But I’ve seen him abroad - and many, many times in this country. It’s impressive - if that’s what you’re into...” His own plans are more restrained. “The thing I love doing the most is running a normal life schedule,” he said. “Like going out for coffee in the morning, or training when you want to. Popping to the dry cleaners, stuff like that. Real mundane things, like pottering around the village.” Which he can do after a successful season. The summer of 2022 was bookended by disappointments for Mings: first a staple of Gareth Southgate’s squads was dropped by England and then Steven Gerrard replaced him as Villa skipper with John McGinn and preferred new signing Diego Carlos for the opening-day defeat to Bournemouth. “I guess it started being left out of the England squad but that was a whole summer of strange times,” he added. “Then sitting on the bench at Bournemouth and thinking, ‘I don’t know how all of this has happened in such a short space of time’; from the captaincy to not starting first game of the season.” And yet the happy end to the campaign left him reflecting: “I certainly wouldn’t change the last 14 months since the last game of last season to where we are now. Sometimes need a kick up the backside, don’t you?” He had the honesty to accept Southgate was right to omit him. “Did I need it? Probably,” he said. “There always comes a stage in people’s careers where there is a plateau and you are coasting.” A change of fortune came in part with a change of manager. He was back in the Villa side before Gerrard was sacked, but was revitalised by Emery. While another England centre-back, John Stones, has shown a new dimension to his game by playing in midfield, Mings has benefited from being ordered not to desert his post in the middle of the defence by Emery. “He has made my job a lot simpler and a lot clearer,” he said. “I always go back to the first conversation that we had and he said every time he watched me, I ended up in centre midfield, left-wing, right-back or covering the other centre-back and all of that can happen within 60 seconds. He wanted me to play in my position, simplify what I have done and learn his methods.” If Mings has proved a star pupil, Southgate has taken note. But his role for England has not just been confined to defensive duties. Mings has found the net in his last two caps, against San Marino and Ivory Coast. “What is the longest scoring streak for a defender for England?” he wondered. “Two, probably.” Score for a third consecutive game and he may find his friend Grealish celebrating. Again. Read More Jack Grealish says he hasn’t slept for 24 hours as he revels in Man City victory parade Manchester City quintet set to arrive for England duty on Tuesday evening Jack Grealish revels as Manchester City parade treble

It was the England squad that was out of date even before it was announced. Eberechi Eze was out before he knew he was in. His Euro 2020 had ended before he knew he might play a part in it. As he prepares for a belated England debut, two years after Gareth Southgate had first called him up, it nevertheless marks swift progress for a footballer released by Arsenal at 13, Fulham at 15 and Millwall at 18. Eze has a calmness that has enabled him to deal with setbacks, a quiet assurance that has stemmed from his faith. He has a belief in destiny, that things are meant to be. It helped him to deal with events of May 2021. “In training we were playing small-sided games, five v five, and I received the ball and went to push off and start running with it and I just felt a pop,” recalled the Crystal Palace midfielder. “It felt like someone had kicked me or someone behind me had stepped on my ankle but I looked around and no one was there. So I knew it was serious.” His immediate instincts were sadly correct. He required surgery. As he was digesting and disseminating the news, he discovered he was in England’s 33-man provisional squad for the tournament. Their number had to be reduced to 26. The luckless Eze was the first to go. “I had gone inside, had a little assessment from the doctor and he told me that I had done my Achilles,” Eze said. “I asked for my phone to tell my wife and my family and I saw I had the message I was in the provisional squad for England. For it to happen on that day…” Eze coped with greater equanimity than many others would have done. “I found myself at peace because I understood I wasn’t meant to be,” he said. He found England’s eventual run to the final “inspirational”. There was no bitterness, no sense it might have been him. “I look at things deep so I saw it, ‘listen this is just another hurdle on the way, you know what you can do and where you can get to, so the focus is to keep going and keep pushing,’” he explained. A theme of his career is that he does get there in the end, even if he is tripped up by the hurdles. “Against the odds, I am in this position,” he said. “Getting released from Millwall was quite tough, because that was the time when everyone is getting their pro contract and you don’t know where you are going.” He had passed through a series of clubs. Even when picked up by QPR, he made a solitary appearance before being loaned to League Two Wycombe. “Without that experience who knows if I would be here?” he wondered. Now he has found the approval of two England managers: both Southgate and Roy Hodgson, who signed him for Palace in 2020 and whose unexpected return to the dugout in April brought a burst of six goals in nine games for Eze, leading to international recognition. “He has insane wisdom,” said Eze. Hodgson and his long-time assistant Ray Lewington have helped Eze on and off the field, with his confidence, with his mental state, with their guidance. “I owe so much to them,” he added. “It has opened my eyes to more.” His chances of an England bow may be increased if the Manchester City duo of Jack Grealish and Phil Foden sit the game out after their Champions League final exertions. He hopes his parents will be able to join him in Malta. Eze is of Nigerian descent and qualified to play for two countries but when England called, it felt the right decision to accept their approach. He is a different type of talent, a player comfortable operating in small spaces, with the skill to prevail in close quarters. It is a result of his upbringing; fellow south Londoners like Wilfried Zaha and Jadon Sancho learnt the game in a similar way. “I think there’s load of players that have grown up playing in cages so they understand, they know what it is about,” he said. “It is fun, it is enjoyable, and it is where you get your first learning as a footballer in south London. It has helped massively and I can see that now in how I play, how I think and how I assess situations. It’s definitely a strength I have.” The journey from the cages of south London to Premier League pitches was indirect, his route to international football then obstructed by an ill-timed injury. It has not come easy for Eze. But the man who was released and rejected, injured and ill-fated could be an England international on Friday. Read More Eberechi Eze feels injury nightmare gave him platform for England recognition Manchester City quintet set to arrive for England duty on Tuesday evening Jude Bellingham uses pain of England’s near misses in bid for Euro 2024 glory Eberechi Eze feels injury nightmare gave him platform for England recognition Sportswashing is about to change football beyond anything you can imagine Football rumours: Man United, Real Madrid and Chelsea fight for Kylian Mbappe

An indictment against the controversial influencer could be issued later this month, marking the start of a trial.