Dean Ashton Q&A: Fans can't believe that England may be good

England offered scarce entertainment in its last group-stage outing against Belgium, succumbing to a 1-0 defeat as Gareth Southgate made a host of changes in preparation for the round of 16. But will the manager's approach help extract a knockout win from Colombia?

In anticipation of Tuesday's matchup, theScore enjoyed another Q&A with former England striker Dean Ashton, and learned why he preferred to room alone at international camps, whether he believes England players will be mapping out routes in the World Cup bracket, and his prediction for the last-16 clash.

Who did you room with on international duty? - question asked by Craig Kent via Twitter

Dean Ashton: I used to do it when I was younger but after a while I decided I didn't want to share with anyone. I wanted to do my own thing; if I wanted to watch certain programmes, if I wanted to do a massive dump then I had to take the roommate into account. I just wanted to relax and go to sleep when I wanted to go to sleep.

Weren't you concerned about being a loner?

DA: Not really. Like I've talked about before, because of the nature of the squad and how cliquey it was it was always quite a difficult environment to be in. I was always more than happy with my own company, and once I got into the meeting rooms and what have you I knew some players anyway so I was quite relaxed in that sense.

Who are your best friends from football?

DA: It's more Crewe players, so a lot of people won't know them. Richard Walker, Stephen Foster, Adie Moses, David Vaughan. I was only at Norwich for a year so didn't necessarily create unique bonds, and then with West Ham when I retired I literally cut ties with everybody because that was the only way I could cope with having to retire. My way of coping was not to speak to anyone, certainly from West Ham, and just forget about football in a sense.

What would you say the general atmosphere around the national team is like in England right now? Is it optimistic? Are doubts creeping in after the Belgium loss?

DA: Many people didn't have big expectations going into this World Cup, but suddenly because of the way the draw is and knowing who you would have to face to reach the final I think everybody's secretly bubbling up inside. Everyone's really wanting to get excited but can't because we're just not sure how good this young England team is. It's a really weird atmosphere; everybody's ready to celebrate and really get behind them and believe we can go far, but we're just not sure - we've just had so many disappointments over the years.

Will England players be encouraged by seeing Spain get kicked out?

DA: Of course. Spain are obviously a top side when they are anywhere near their best and are difficult to beat. But I think this World Cup has shown it isn't necessarily about reputations. Gareth Southgate's saying all the right things about their approach to the game, giving Colombia the respect they deserve, and not really getting ahead of themselves - that's the best way to be - but England will never have a better chance to get to a World Cup final.

Do you think England players will be mapping out potential routes in the bracket?

DA: It's human nature. It's impossible not to look ahead. It's important that they focus come the day before and the game itself, but if you can't look ahead and dream about what's going to happen and believe that it could happen... it never will.

Is momentum actually important? Belgium can't have had much when 10 outfield players were changed for the quarter-final against Japan.

DA: Momentum obviously is important, but the fact that there's not going to be that many players starting against Colombia who started against Belgium I think obviously they're not going to have felt much of that downturn in momentum from that result. We're hoping that the English players that come back into the side will all still be really confident from the two games that they played and take that forward.

Arsene Wenger recently picked out Kyle Walker as a weak link in this side. Do you think that's fair?

DA: I wouldn't say so. Yes, it might not be his natural position playing at the right-hand side of centre-half, and he's not the absolute best defender we've ever seen, but what he has been is someone with electric pace who gets himself out of trouble time and time again. Pace is something England have lacked, so I think it's a real positive to have someone with pace in our backline.

Could that be a critical area against Colombia given that James Rodriguez may be working in gaps behind Kieran Trippier and to Walker's right?

DA: Yes. I think if James plays he's going to be difficult to mark, but there's no way he's going to get anywhere near Walker in terms of pace. That won't be an issue. It's more the other side you'd worry about with Juan Cuadrado's pace. He will look to get behind and that's where Harry Maguire might be tested.

Where is there a weakness in Southgate's side?

DA: I think we've improved a lot, but we can give the ball away too cheaply. We also lack experience, there a lot of players who haven't played in many big games. They might not be able to cope with the pressure. If you're in the Colombia side, you're looking to get off to a good start with an early goal and then really test England's mentality.

Would you start Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson against Colombia?

DA: We can't get ahead of ourselves and suddenly think because we've beaten Panama and Tunisia that we're a wonderful side. We've got to give the utmost respect to other teams and realise that we're still not up there with the best sides, so I'd like us to be quite cautious and give ourselves a bit more of a defensive base with Dier and Henderson. With the pace we have going forward I still think we can hurt teams like Colombia on the counter-attack.

To fit them both in, who would you leave out?

DA: That's difficult. For me, personally, I'd leave Dele Alli out. I'd play Jesse Lingard and Raheem Sterling either side of Harry Kane. You've still got quality in terms of the deliveries from Trippier and Ashley Young and the pace. However, I feel he'll go with just one holding midfielder and really go for it.

As a former striker, what do you rate as Falcao's best qualities?

DA: His movement and anticipation around the box is fantastic. He's lost half a yard of pace through injury but he's still got that finishing ability. If you switch off for a second, he'll find that gap and punish you. He's certainly one of the best penalty-box strikers around.

How do you rate the central defensive partnership of Yerry Mina and Davinson Sanchez?

DA: I wouldn't fancy playing against them. They're a tough pairing. Mina has shown that he's a threat in the other box as well, and Sanchez has been brilliant for Tottenham and has got that pace to get him out of trouble. But they're coming up against arguably the best No. 9 in the business (in Kane) so they're going to be really tested.

What do you see as Colombia's main weakness?

DA: They haven't necessarily got too much pace throughout their side. If you look in their midfield I don't think they've got a lot, and I think we could catch them on the break. Japan showed if you work hard you can cause them problems. We probably have the edge in fitness and youth, and can be dangerous on the counter-attack.

Do you have a score prediction for this game?

DA: I really fancy us. The way we've set up and the pace we have the team can cause problems. James is not going to be 100 percent, and he's a must for Colombia. I see us sneaking this 2-1.

This interview has been edited and condensed. If you have a question for Dean, please submit it to @danieljrouse on Twitter.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)