Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings: I thought England call-up was a prank

The 26-year-old has been handed a first-ever international call-up, after being included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers with Bulgaria and Kosovo.

Mings has been rewarded for some excellent performances for Villa during the club’s early weeks back in the Premier League.

But he admitted to first thinking his team-mates were on a wind-up after learning the news on Thursday.

Mings explained: “I thought it was a prank when I first found out.

“I got a text when I came in from training from the England player liaison officer, Emily her name is.

“I text back saying: ‘Oh s**t.’ Excuse my language. She then called me and said: ‘I’m not joking.’

“It was only when I spoke to her on the phone, I knew it was genuine.”

Mings’s call-up continues a remarkable journey for a player who began his career in non-league and had begun training as a mortgage advisor, before getting his professional break with Ipswich.

“Obviously I am delighted,” he said. “It has been a long journey to get to this point.

“Everyone has their own journey and there are people in the England squad that have come from non-league too.

“It probably makes it a little bit sweeter. But every English players dream is to be called up into the national squad.”