BEN GIBSON is dreaming of pulling on an England shirt at the Riverside next March.

Gibson, who has been on international duty with the Under-21s in France this week, has become a key member of Gareth Southgate’s squad.

And he hopes to continue his impressive form for Middlesbrough to stay at the forefront of Southgate’s mind during the build up to next summer’s European Under-21s Championships.

Those preparations will include an outing against Germany’s red-hot youngsters on Teesside on Monday, March 30, and Middlesbrough-born Gibson would love to be involved.

“It’s something that I’m already really looking forward to. Hopefully we’ll get a good turn-out and get a lot of fans behind the team. To play for my country, if selected of course, in my home stadium will be a fantastic moment for me personally,” said Gibson.

“All the fans around the country relish any chance we get to play against Germany, so hopefully they’ll come out in numbers. We’ve been well-backed lately as a club and hopefully that can continue with the Under-21s, especially when we’ve got such as exciting group as we have.

“I have no doubt that they’ll get behind us and support the team. The [Germany] game is exactly what we need. We want to test ourselves against the best and there’s no better opportunity to do that than in these next games.

“They’ll be really good tests and we’re always looking to set markers for ourselves to see where we’re at when we play against these better teams.”

Gibson might not be the only Middlesbrough player involved that night. Patrick Bamford, who is currently on loan from Chelsea until January 1, could have his temporary stint extended if he continues to impress Aitor Karanka.

And Bamford is desperate to face the Germans at the Riverside. He said: “Playing teams like Germany gives us a benchmark of what we need to do to improve and how well we are actually doing.

“Playing Germany at Middlesbrough will be a great occasion. I think one of the things that I noticed when I came to the north is that football is everyone’s life. At the minute, we are bringing in more fans and we are doing well so a big game like England versus Germany, hopefully will get a big crowd.”

* Full ticket information will be available via www.mfc.co.uk from 10am on Wednesday morning.