Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze thanks Roy Hodgson ahead of possible England debut

Eze, 24, is hoping to make his England bow in the European Championship qualifiers against Malta and Germany after pledging his international future to the Three Lions, despite being eligible for Nigeria through his parents.

Hodgson returned to Palace as an emergency replacement for Patrick Vieira in late March and led the Eagles to five wins from their final 10 games of the season to save them from the Premier League relegation - with Eze scoring five times under the former England manager.

"I am very grateful to Roy and Ray [Lewington, assistant manager] for all they did helping me to regain form, and put in performances," said Eze ahead of England's game in Malta on Friday night. "They helped me massively with my mental state as well so hugely grateful to them.

"From the first day I have met them they have been improving me as a person and a player, and helping me grow and understand more about the game itself. It has opened my eyes to more, and I feel like I've grown so much because of them, so I owe them a lot.

"[They opened my eyes to] how to carry yourself and see things, understanding that it is not about the short term but the long term and making the decisions that will best serve you long term. That's something that's stuck with me from when they spoke to me about it. It has stood me in good stead."

At 75, Hodgson is the oldest coach to take charge of a Premier League side and it remains unclear if he will remain as Palace boss next season.

Eze added: "You can see from what he did throughout all that time towards the end of the season how effective he was, the influence he had on the players, the mindset, the confidence, the freedom we all played with. It was something we hadn’t experienced for a little while so I am hugely grateful to him.

"I think you could see in the performances every weekend the confidence we had. For sure, day to day seeing him around the place and how he takes to each individual player, it's a lot. Again, I see him as somehow who it has helped me so much and put me in a position to express myself and without that opportunity I'm not in this position here."

Eze says being part of an England team who have reached the last eight of three successive tournaments under Gareth Southgate was a factor in picking the country of his birth over Nigeria, where both his parents are from.

"I received the call and I felt it was the right decision to make and I am very, very happy to be here," he said.

"It was more [about] just speaking to the people around me, my family, my wife, getting good advice from the people around, trying to think what is the best decision for myself and my career. We think that this is the best one. It is a big opportunity for me, it is the highest level of football. I look at it with no regret at all.

"It [playing for England] is the highest level of football, you want to test yourself against that, you want to be in that and you can see from the quality of the team, where they are getting to, the confidence they are playing with, it is incredible. So, being part of that is big."