KYLE WALKER has admitted he ‘deserved to be dropped’ by England after breaching lockdown in the spring.
The Manchester City star, 30, broke coronavirus rules in April after hosting a sex party with two hookers – at which time he’d already gone eight months without playing for England.
Seething Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate vowed never to pick Walker again.
But after turning things around, the right-back earned a recall – only to be sent-off in the nervy 1-0 win over Iceland in September.
Two months on, Walker is firmly back in the Three Lions set-up once more – and he credits being axed by Southgate for it.
Walker told the Daily Mail: “England’s game with Iceland and what happened after it was important for me.
“I’d been left out of the squad for more than a year.
“The first time it happens, you think, ‘No problem, maybe I’ll benefit from the rest’ and that sort of stuff.
“I had played for England since I was 21. As soon as the squad’s announced, you get used to being in it.
“You are saying bye to the kids and spending a lot of time away in a hotel.
“Gareth and Steve [Holland] have made it a more enjoyable place to go and play football and it should be because you are representing your country, so it was still hard to miss out.
“The second time I was left out, I kind of expected to be in that one so it was a bit of a jolt.
“And then when it happened a third time, I thought, ‘Maybe I’m just not his cup of tea any more’.
“But before the lockdown happened, the manager came over to the house and spoke to me.
“He said: ‘Listen Kyle, I have been very happy with your performances and I want you back in the team for the next camp’.
“I told him I had probably taken it for granted a bit because I had been in the team for so long.”
Walker went on to say being dropped was the best thing for his Three Lions future, in the long run.
The full-back added: “As much as I hate to admit it, I probably needed to be dropped to realise the importance of playing for England.
“Not that I lost it. But I just took it for granted. I thought I’d be in the squad.
“So, come the Iceland game, it was difficult – I wanted to prove that, even though I’m 30 years old, I still had a lot to offer.
“I think he knows what I can do as a footballer but I felt like I was that eager to show him that I needed to stay in the squad, I made decisions on the pitch that I don’t normally make.
“I don’t make rash challenges. Before that, I had only been sent off once in my career.
“Amd that was for a shoulder-to-shoulder on Dominic Calvert-Lewin against Everton, which was my first game at the Etihad for Man City.
“My whole Tottenham career, I never got sent off. It is not in my nature to make rash challenges.
“I thought I could get that ball against Iceland. Maybe I wasn’t quite sharp enough coming back off holiday.
“Maybe I lost that half a second and just half a second and it’s a red.”
Walker continued by saying he really beat himself up after his red card – but revealed Southgate’s reassuring words calmed him down.
The City ace said: “I did an interview and I was running on emotions. I thought I needed to address the public and the media and hold my hands up and say it was my fault.
“I went too negative with how I was feeling. At that moment, I felt it might be the end of my England career. I had my chance and I had got sent off in a qualifier.
“I thought, ‘Someone, somewhere upstairs doesn’t want me in that England team’. That’s what I was thinking.
“When I got back to the hotel, I went to see the manager privately and apologised.
“I was the senior member of the side and I told him I knew I couldn’t be making decisions like that that could cost the team in big matches.
“He agreed with me about that but he said he had heard my interview.
“He said: ‘It’s not over. You’ve made a mistake and people make mistakes but if you continue to perform at the level you’re performing at, you will be in my squads’.
“That made me take a big breath of relief and think he wasn’t that mad at me and he was saying it wasn’t over.
“That gave me the reassurance to go and perform how I have done recently.
“I’m pleased with the way I have played since then. I’m pleased with the way I’ve played in this new season.”