Barnes backs Ings to make England’s senior set-up

Ings, who scored his first Premier League goal against Everton last month, bagged a brace for Gareth Southgate’s young Lions in a friendly against Portugal at Turf Moor last week.

West Brom’s Saido Berahino saw his form rewarded with promotion to Roy Hodgson’s squad, and Barnes believes that Ings can follow suit.

“He’s been back in and working hard like he normally does,” Barnes said. “You see him scoring goals for fun in training every day.

“He’ll be full of confidence for sure. He’s on fire in training every day. He’ll be in the squad in the future.

“There’s no doubt about that because he’s an unbelievable player and it’s good to play alongside him. Hopefully he’ll go on to play for England.”

Barnes is also in high spirits after making his mark on the Premier League with a thumping header that earned victory over Hull City prior to November’s international break.

“It’s been refreshing and I can’t wait to get started again,” he said. “It’s amazing, the best feeling in the world to get off the mark in the Premier League and I couldn’t ask for much more.

“To get that first win under our belt as well was important. We’ve been so close in numerous games but we’ve got that win on the board and we can kick on again this weekend.

“Us strikers get things said about us when we’re not scoring goals, but you’ve just got to take that on the chin and continue to work hard on the training field because it will pay off.”

Barnes, who sealed promotion from the Championship with the winner against Wigan Athletic last term, is anticipating a tough test against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium at weekend.

Mark Hughes’s Potters are suffering an injury crisis ahead of the weekend fixture, with Marc Wilson, Dionatan Teixeira and Robert Huth all sidelined while fellow defenders Phil Bardsley and Erik Pieters will face late fitness tests. Glenn Whelan and Peter Odemwingie are also unavailable.

However, Barnes believes City have the personnel to address that problem.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “They’re all massive players in the Premier League. They’re big, physical and strong so it’s going to be a challenge but it’s one we’re looking forward to.

“We’ll go there with our own gameplan and try to beat them.

“The injuries help of course but whoever plays it’s going to be a tough game and we need to be right at it from the first whistle.”

He added: “Back to back wins would be fantastic for the club and everyone around it including the fans. It’d be good to get another three points.

“We’ll take it a game at a time and we’ll go in to this one with Stoke looking for the three points. We have to deliver every week - sometimes it hasn’t paid off or the luck hasn’t been there - but now we’re looking forward to this game on Saturday.”