Bristol City’s Jay Dasilva is preparing to face Poland in his own backyard – Ashton Gate – and is relishing the challenge of a club and country colleague on his left-back slot. 

The 20-year-old has spent the season on-loan at Bristol City from Chelsea and his stay has seen him cement his status as one of the brightest prospects in the Championship.

And the left-back will be seeking to be part of a sparkling squad that will face Poland on March 23 – Aidy Boothroyd will name his England squad on March 14 – as he looks to impress and make the cut, so he can run out for the Three Lions on home soil.  

Remarkably, Dasilva is not the only high-flying young Bristol City left-back in the England ranks with Lloyd Kelly also in the running to make an appearance against Poland.

Unable to shake off his club counterpart, Dasilva believes it’s healthy for the pair to play out their selection joust at domestic and international level.

“I am excited to be playing for England at Ashton Gate and I think that it is great that Lloyd and I will get the chance to represent England in front of Bristol fans,” said Dasilva.

“We get on really well off the pitch too and that helps because if one of us is playing and the other isn’t we can talk about the situation to help each other out.

“We are both very young and we are trying to get better and better every day.

“I think if the other lads in the England squad can see that it doesn’t affect us it can only be a positive thing.

“It will help to be familiar with the ground too and it is a chance for fans to see the up and coming England players so it will really help having them cheer us on.”

Dasilva is already a major tournament winner at youth level after he captained the England Under-19s to victory at the 2017 European Championships.

Since then he has steadily progressed through the ranks, spending the 2017-18 season on loan at Charlton Athletic where he was voted the fans’ player of the season.

England boast a wealth of players earning regular minutes for top clubs – foremost amongst them are Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho.

With the prospects of seamless promotion to the senior set-up and a return to parent club Chelsea on the horizon, Dasilva is enthused by what the future holds.

“I am one of the youngest in the Under-21s and I still have a few years left in the age-group so I am not thinking that far ahead at the moment,” he said.

“We have a really good squad at the moment with players that are representing their clubs in the Premier League so it could happen at any time.

“We have started to win tournaments at youth level now and we have seen how well the seniors did at the last World Cup so the next few years will be really exciting if we can keep progressing at this rate.”

England U21s host Poland U21s on Thursday, 21 March at Ashton Gate, Bristol City FC, KO 7.45pm. Tickets available at £15/£1 from www.thefa.com/tickets