Former Bristol City Alex Scott has been discussing his spell at Ashton Gate under Nigel Pearson following his England call-upFormer Bristol City star Alex Scott speaks in an England press conference(Image: Photo by Bradley Collyer – Pool/Getty Images)

Former Bristol City ace Alex Scott has been reflecting on his time at Ashton Gate and the “freedom” he was afforded by then boss Nigel Pearson, whilst discussing the prospect of featuring at the 2026 World Cup after receiving his maiden England call-up.

Scott, who appeared 91 times for the Robins between 2021 and the summer of 2023, has been selected as part of Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions squad for the November international break. Having already booked their place at next summer’s tournament, England will face Serbia and Albania as they look to conclude their qualifying campaign on a positive note.

While just a teenager, Scott agreed to join the Robins from Guernsey FC in January 2020 after impressing on trial. Less than a year and a half later, he had made his first-team debut from the bench against Luton, and by the start of the 2021/22 campaign, he was a regular starter.

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Pearson was open in admitting that he expected the versatile midfielder, who fans had dubbed the ‘Guernsey Grealish’ because of his low socks and similar dribbling ability to the Everton man, to one day play for England. Now, after securing his first senior call-up, a little more than two years after he left BS3 for Bournemouth, Scott has been reflecting on the progress he’s made so far in his career.

“I think I’ve definitely matured as a player and learned a lot more about the game, especially defensively,” Scott explained in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “I think at Bristol City when I was 18, 19, it was a lot of freedom, and the manager there gave me a lot of freedom to go out on the pitch and almost do what I wanted.

“Then, I signed for Bournemouth in the Premier League, and the tactical stance on things is a whole different world. It took me quite a while to adapt to that, and I found it tough at first, but I got there in the end.

“Definitely, my maturity and my defensive capabilities are now a lot more than they were back then.”

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On the injuries that followed his Ashton Gate exit, Scott added, “It was definitely difficult. I had a great time at Bristol City, where I suffered no injuries whatsoever. I played most of the games there, and then you finally get your dream move to the Premier League, you’re out for two, three months, so that was tough to take.

“Since then, it’s been injury-on-injury. I obviously had the bad knee injury last year, and things are starting to look on the up, and I go and break my jaw on the third-to-last game of the season, so it’s been tough. The injuries have been tough. I’ve had great people around me, obviously my family being number one and all the staff at Bournemouth, my friends as well, making sure I’m alright and pushing me to be honest.

“The club were brilliant; anyone there I could speak to if I was feeling down or not feeling great at all. They definitely helped there, but at times it was definitely tough, and I’m glad I’ve come out of the other end and am finally getting a run of games without any injuries. I’m just happy to be playing football again.”

November’s camp is England’s penultimate set of fixtures before next summer’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and in turn, time is limited for players to make an impression on Tuchel and his coaching staff in the coming months.

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Scott, if selected, and the rest of those hoping to book their ticket to the 2026 tournament will have another opportunity to stake their claim in March, when the Three Lions are set to play two friendly fixtures. At the time of writing, the opposition for those matches is yet to be confirmed.

Naturally, having been called up for the first time, the Bournemouth midfielder now appears to be in with a genuine chance of being one of the lucky few to make the trip across the Atlantic. However, with a lot of football to be played between now and then, Scott is very much focusing on what he can do in the here and now, even if the World Cup is at the back of his mind.

“I don’t think it’s really sunk in too much yet,” he grinned when asked if he’d dreamed of featuring at the World Cup. “Obviously, that’s the dream for everyone, especially the players here, to be in that World Cup squad. But to be honest, I just want to come in, show what I’m about, show the coaches here what I can do and how I can play in an England shirt.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here and, of course, the World Cup is definitely a dream of mine, but I’ve just got to take it one step at a time. [I’ll] enjoy this week, if I get the chance to play, I’ll hopefully impress and show what I’m capable of.”

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