Harry Maguire: We want to stay up to reward loyal Hull City fans

The 24-year-old has been in outstanding form for the East Yorkshire club under head coach Marco Silva and sources within the England camp indicated recently that manager Gareth Southgate has been impressed by the defender.

Sam Clucas is another Tiger believed to be very much on the Three Lions’ radar following his contribution to a survival fight that has gathered pace since the start of this month.

Both players will be hoping to help fourth-bottom Hull take another step towards safety this weekend when Watford head to the KCOM Stadium.

For Maguire, fresh from scoring in back-to-back league games for the first time in his career, three points against the Hornets is the sole focus this week. But, he concedes, an international call-up would be the perfect end to a season that has seen the former Sheffield United man come of age as a Premier League player.

“When you are a young kid, you dream of playing for your country,” said the Hull defender. “To see your name linked and hear you are being watched is something very special.

“If the day does come and I get the call, I will do my best to grasp it with both hands.”

Southgate recently watched Hull in their 2-1 victory at home to West Ham United. It is understood the national team manager plans to return to the East Riding before the end of the season.

Hull will be hoping any future visit will bring an identical result to that triumph over the Hammers as the fight to avoid the drop intensifies. With Middlesbrough and Sunderland looking increasingly doomed, it seems a two-way scrap between Hull and Swansea to avoid finishing 18th.

Both clubs have three games left at home and two away. The Tigers’ remarkable form at the KCOM, therefore, could be a major factor in deciding who remains among the elite with Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur still to travel along the A63.

Stoke City, 3-1 victors over Hull last Saturday, visit the Liberty Stadium on Saturday and will be followed to south Wales by Everton and West Bromwich Albion.

Paul Clement’s men also travel to Manchester United and Sunderland, while Hull still have to go to Southampton and Crystal Palace.

Maguire added: “Four months ago, we looked dead and buried. Everyone was telling us that Hull were relegated and going down. But now things have changed and there is belief.”

This conviction that Hull can stay up has clearly spread to supporters, judging by the scenes at Stoke last weekend.

Despite Silva’s men slipping to a fifth straight defeat on the road, many among the 1,500 away fans remained behind long after the final whistle to chant their support of both the Portuguese and his players.

“To be fair to the fans, since Marco came in they have been brilliant,” said Maguire, a fans’ favourite and a leading contender to be the club’s Player of the Year. “Always following us in numbers and being loud and proud.

“I was doing a few interviews for TV after the game. It was a fair while after the final whistle, but our fans were still there, singing away and making a real noise. Fair play to them.

“They are right behind us and are our 12th man at the moment. We have to now go on and keep this club in the Premier League for the fans, for the club and for ourselves.”

If that belief is not to prove misplaced, Hull must be more clinical than was the case last Saturday at the Bet365 Stadium.

Before and after Maguire’s equaliser early in the second half, Silva’s side created and spurned a host of chances before late strikes from Peter Crouch and Xherdan Shaqiri clinched the points for the Potters.

“Stoke was a real missed opportunity for us,” said Maguire. “We had gone to Stoke – a tough place to go, where not many teams win – and really took the game to them.

“We created numerous chances and it was a game where if we had taken those chances we would have won. After we scored, I was thinking, ‘We will go on and win this’. But they made two substitutions, who linked well together, and then it was game over.”

The one plus on a disappointing afternoon for Silva’s Tigers in the Potteries came via Swansea also slipping to defeat at Watford to maintain the two-point gap between the two relegation rivals.

“Staying out of the bottom three was huge,” added Maguire. “It is good for morale and confidence. We went in the changing room, saw Swansea had lost and it does give you that lift.

“If they had won to put us back in the bottom three, our mood would have been a lot more negative.

“So, Swansea losing was a positive that we could take out of the day. But the key now is getting three points off Watford at home. That is a huge game for us now.”