An England defender has vowed to stop France star Kylian Mbappe in their 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final battle on Saturday night.
The Paris-Saint-Germain attacker has been in scintillating form at the competition in Qatar, having scored five goals in four games so far.
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There were concerns earlier this week that Mbappe was carrying an injury after the 23-year-old missed a training session on Tuesday, but the Frenchman was spotted back with the first team the following day after it became clear the goal-getter had been absent as he was undergoing a separate recovery session.
With much of the build-up to the quarter-final focused on Mbappe, England's assistant manager Steve Holland has insisted that he is one of few players in football who need "special attention".
With the Les Parisiens star set to start on the left side of a front three, the pressure is on Manchester City and Three Lions right-back Kyle Walker to thwart the pacy forward's advances, and the fullback has now opened up about his upcoming battle against the Les Bleus talisman.
"I understand what I need to do and that is obviously to stop him. It is probably easier said than done but I don't underestimate myself," the 32-year-old said, per ESPN.
"I've played him before and I've come up against a lot of great players in my time playing for England, Man City and the clubs that I played for.
"So I have to treat it as another game. I have to take extra care and give him the respect he deserves, but not too much respect because he is also playing England and we can cause them problems.
"OK, it is going to be a tough game but not one player makes a team.
"The game is not England versus Mbappe. It is England versus France. We respect that he is a good player in good form at the minute, but I'm not going to roll out a red carpet for him and tell him to go and score.
"I am representing my country in the quarter-final of a World Cup so it is do or die really. If we lose, we go home.
"He is not going to stand in my way of hopefully winning a World Cup for my country."
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Walker has faced Mbappe on three occasions at club level for City, with the Premier League side winning two of those matches and losing the other.
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