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‘It was a brand-new car as well,” says Elliot Anderson, grinning as he relives the Gazza-inspired prank that sticks in the memory from his fruitful loan at Bristol Rovers. It is four years since a reserved teenager from Whitley Bay walked into a dressing room of big personalities after signing on January deadline day and turbocharged the club to promotion. His soaring header was the last and decisive goal in an exhilarating 7-0 win on the final day of the League Two season.

A lot has happened in Anderson’s world since that incredible climax, when Rovers pipped Northampton to third on goals scored. At the end of that four months, he was well versed in the culture of capers. Fridays meant forfeits and spinning the “wheel of fortune”. Practical jokes were never in short supply and on one occasion, as when Paul Gascoigne famously haunted Gordon Durie with trout, players planted fish in the boot and on the back seats of a teammate’s car. The analysts used training-ground CCTV to present a “Panorama” investigation and find the culprits.

“His car stunk of fish for weeks,” says Anderson, who played with Gascoigne’s nephew Cameron at the renowned Wallsend Boys Club but had no part in the escapade.

“It was a really good laugh and there was a great atmosphere within the team. It was something I hadn’t experienced at the time. It was sort of the start of my career. It took me out of my comfort zone, living away from home, and I got that chance to play men’s football. It was a huge part of my learning and I loved every minute.”

Two years later the midfielder left Newcastle for Nottingham Forest, valued at a bargain £35m. Anderson has become a Premier League powerhouse at the City Ground and is in line to start for England at the World Cup. It is amusing to think that when Anderson swapped the north-east for the south-west, the Bristol Rovers Supporters Club was initially reluctant to give him the No 12 shirt usually allocated to it. Players expressed amazement at Anderson’s ability in his first session and the chief executive, Tom Gorringe, now at Swansea, assured the fan group that the loanee would play for England. “It didn’t go down too well at the time but I think it did after how things played out,” Anderson says.

Perhaps it was meant to be, given he sang Sweet Caroline at the team hotel the night before his Rovers debut at Sutton. Now Anderson, talking on a bean bag in a giant indoor dome at Forest’s training base, is one of the faces of the Three Lions. The 23-year-old was selected, with Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Marcus Rashford and Jordan Pickford, to model the new England kits. “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy,” Anderson says. “Obviously it’s normal for them, but for me it was quite surreal, really, and I think it shows I’m an important part. The last World Cup or the last Euros, I was just sort of watching on as a fan. I didn’t really expect to be at the next major tournament – well, hopefully I am. It would be a dream come true.”

He remembers following the last World Cup on holiday in Dubai while the Premier League was on hold, at which point he was beginning to make a mark at Newcastle but was yet to start a top-flight match. Anderson recalls being at home on Tyneside for the 2018 World Cup. “[Kieran] Trippier’s free-kick [in the semi-final against Croatia]? I really remember that well because I was in a pub with my dad, my mum and my brothers, around the corner from my house and I just remember his shot hitting the net and the pub erupting. That was quality.”

Anderson, one of two players to start every top-flight game for Forest this season, has cemented himself as a fixture in Thomas Tuchel’s side since his England debut in September. He has started four of England’s past five competitive games and seems increasingly likely to line up against Croatia on 17 June, England’s Group L opener. “[Luka] Modric is unbelievable, I’ve always loved watching him, the creative side of his game is something I’m trying to do,” he says.

The statistics support the growing noise surrounding Anderson: according to the Premier League, he has far and away won more duels than any other player in the division (254, João Gomes is the next midfielder on the list with 184) and had the most touches (2,780), a mantle usually reserved for ball-playing centre-backs; no midfielder has registered more passes (2,002) and only James Garner and João Palhinha have made more tackles. Perhaps the biggest sign of his evolution is that, according to FBref, he has drawn more fouls than any player in the league (68).

He has also impressed on the continent, with Forest well placed to progress to the Europa League semi-finals. Despite Forest’s struggles to back up their seventh-placed and best finish for 30 years, he has elevated his game to a different sphere. He has seen the numbers too. “I’ve got Sky Sports on quite a lot and they pop up on the side, all those stats,” he says, smiling.

Which elements does Anderson feel he has improved? “Maybe just influencing games a little bit more, trying to take control of the game. I would like to get myself more goals and assists, but hopefully that’ll come. I feel like I’ve sort of nailed a position. I know I did it last season but I have found myself really comfortable in centre-mid, No 6, No 8.”

For Forest, Sunday’s visit of Aston Villa offers the next opportunity to improve their chances of retaining their top-flight status. An impressive 3-0 victory at Tottenham in their last league game provided a major boost for Vítor Pereira’s rejuvenated side. “We know we’re a good side, but sometimes when you’re not picking up the results you start to feel that extra pressure … It was just a huge relief really to remind everyone and remind ourselves of what we can do. We can really attack these games coming up and I’m confident we can get ourselves out of it.”

Anderson has taken steps to enhance his game off the pitch, last October installing a hyperbaric chamber recommended by Forest, plus a red-light sauna and ice bath, at home in Nottingham. “It’s a little bit of a hobby of mine at the minute,” he says. “Touch wood, I’ve noticed that I feel fitter this season, I haven’t really picked up any injuries, so I’ve been available, which is a really important part of being a player. I’ll be in my chamber five days a week. I do an hour and a half a day, usually about 5pm, just before dinner.”

It is a long way from mischief at Rovers and living in a shared house with fellow new signings in Stoke Gifford, a northern suburb of Bristol. “It has all happened pretty quickly, but I feel like I’m taking it in my stride,” Anderson says. He is keeping things as normal as possible, walking his dogs, a German shepherd, Obi, and dachshund, Leo – “little and large” – and playing golf with teammates when time allows. “Macca [James McAtee] is the best. I’ll be sticking the Masters on this weekend, so that will be good.”

The consensus at Rovers is Anderson is the best player to have pulled on their blue and white quarters. Rovers pounced after Luton, then in the Championship, pulled out and the deal happened so late that Anderson did not undergo a medical. Rovers paid Newcastle about £200 a week for a player who contributed six assists and seven goals, none more important than that back-post header against Scunthorpe.

Cue Rovers’ Aaron Collins leading chants atop a traffic light on a packed Gloucester Road en route to a nightclub where the party continued. “A few of the lads still had their strips on. Having to win 7-0, me scoring the seventh … I don’t think a scenario like that will probably ever happen again.”

That crazy day aside, what have been the most surreal moments to this point? “Probably playing for England, playing at Wembley,” Anderson says. “I went to Wembley as a kid with my brothers to watch England v Spain. Every time I’ve done it – and I’ve only done it twice – playing at Wembley for England is very special. Yeah, it doesn’t get any more normal each time you do it,” he says with a smile.