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Gareth Southgate Says Declan Rice Handled England Switch 'Incredibly Maturely'

Gareth Southgate has heaped praise on Declan Rice for the way the West Ham United midfielder has handled switching to representing England at international level from the Republic of Ireland.

Rice, who made the decision to change his allegiance in February, played 90 minutes for the Three Lions during a 4-0 win over Bulgaria in a qualifier for UEFA Euro 2020 on Saturday.

Southgate singled out how Rice handled his choice ahead of England's next qualifier, Tuesday's game against Kosovo at Wembley Stadium, per Sky Sports:

"When I spoke with Declan about the possibility of him transferring association across, I was very conscious that this was something that could happen.