LONDON, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- England defender Joe Gomez looked as if he would be in the squad for this summer's World Cup finals only for the 20-year-old to be robbed on a place in Russia through injury.

After making his debut in 2017, the Liverpool defender was in the starting 11 for England's friendly away to Holland in March, only to suffer an ankle injury he suffered in that game to bring his season to an early end, meaning he had to watch England's progress to the semi-finals on TV.

Now he is fit again and after starting Liverpool's four league matches this season, Gomez has a great chance of facing Spain in the UEFA Nations League at Wembley on Saturday, but speaking to the Independent newspaper, he admits it was a difficult summer.

"I had a long period when I was beating myself up; I was replaying it over it in my mind... I kept thinking I should have done something to stop things going the way they did," he said.

The defender admitted that being on the sidelines made it "tough," to see "the team do so well... As a fan I was buzzing, but at the same time, it was tough that I missed out. But it's done now, I'm over it," he said.

Despite his youth Gomez, who can play across the back five, has already been compared to England greats such as Bobby Moore and Rio Ferdinand and while he admitted he "idolizes" Ferdinand, he also says he admires Manchester City's John Stones' "confidence and ability on the ball."

"I'm happy to play wherever for the team, but to get the opportunity to do it is a personal goal of mine," said the defender, who highlighted the need for his side to keep the ball.

"We're England, we want to keep possession, and when we do dominate possession most of the time we have to stay switched on and ready for the counter-attack, so it's similar in that respect."