According to reports, Walker said in an interview, if the England team failed to qualify for major tournaments, he would be afraid to go out at home, Walker and Southgate talked about retirement, he is willing to stay, because the current England team has been refreshed.

Before Southgate took charge, England's performances in major tournaments were disappointing. But now, Walker says the atmosphere in the training camp has never been better, there is unity within the squad and they have been working hard to pick up a trophy.

England only need a draw to qualify for next year's Europa League and Walker said: "Our fans are used to us being in the tournament and if we don't qualify it's probably God punishing us. If we don't qualify I won't even dare to leave my house, I'll just stay indoors. Now this is an England team that coaches all over the world will love and opponents appreciate us."

"Some people ask what England have achieved. We have achieved a lot even though we haven't won any trophies, we have come out of the rut we were in before. Like at Manchester City, the club spent a lot of money, brought in the best coach in the world and before we won the Champions League they always questioned us. What can they question now? They'll find something else to slag us off."

Walker then spoke about retirement, "I did speak to the coach about retiring and he wanted me to continue playing for the national team and more importantly I wanted to do the same. England is a new team now and it will always be an honor to represent the national team and I will always want to do that."

"Look at the original national team players, Glen Johnson, Rio, Terry, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney. All these players were a flag for England, now, England has changed, soccer has changed, the world has changed and I just want to stay here and get the honors that are ours."