sport news Rising Peterborough star Ronnie Edwards on life with England trends now

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England’s squad for this summer’s Under 20 World Cup will largely be plucked from top clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs.

Peterborough’s Ronnie Edwards is an honourable exception, though his humble surroundings are compensated by more than 60 first-team matches for his League One side — experience most of his fellow Young Lions lack. Tonight, the 19-year-old centre back faces Germany at City’s academy stadium in an important warm-up for May’s World Cup in Indonesia.

Team-mates include Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka, Mateo Joseph (Leeds) and Sam Edozie (Southampton) who have tasted Premier League football this season. Plus Samuel Iling-Junior (Juventus) and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (Borussia Dortmund), who have played in Serie A and the Bundesliga respectively.

Even so, Edwards — who has attracted interest from Brentford, Leicester and Crystal Palace — doesn’t regret his alternative career pathway.

‘I know I’m in the lowest league in our squad but there is a reason I’m picked to play,’ he says confidently. ‘It might look like a negative from the outside but you can turn it into a positive because you can’t take away the games and experience I’ve had. Some of the lads are used to the best facilities with their clubs but going to St George’s Park makes me grateful and eager to succeed.