Mauricio Pochettino backs Rickie Lambert for World Cup

Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino has backed striker Rickie Lambert to make England's World Cup squad.

The forward opened the scoring in Saturday's 2-0 win against Fulham and the Saints coach thinks that his performances could see him picked for the tournament in Brazil.

"Of course I feel a special bond with my players," he told reporters. "I wish they could all go to Brazil to the World Cup. I'm not the one to make the decision but wish them all best.

"Rickie Lambert is an amazingly important player for Southampton. He showed that today - how good he is. Hopefully he can keep on putting in performances as he did today - that will more than anything, more than likely take him to Brazil.

"I want to congratulate my players because they put in an extraordinary performance today," he added. "It was about how we won today, and I just think we played fantastically well. I'm very satisfied and very proud [about] another clean sheet."

The win leaves the Saints third in the Premier League.