Scott Sinclair admits he still allows himself a sneaky peek when Gareth Southgate announces the players to bring glory to England.
The Celtic attacker is refusing to give up on his dream of international honours and reckons he’s playing on the only stage to attract recognition from the Three Lions.
England qualified automatically for the World Cup finals in Russia next summer, dropping only four points from 10 games in Group F after draws in Ljubljana and Glasgow.
But the manner of many of their performances were unconvincing, with Southgate’s squad struggling to impress despite going undefeated in the campaign.
The manager himself was even forced to concede certain players in his current squad don’t deserve their place but there’s still no room for Sinclair.
He’s been capped at Under-21 level but the closest he has come to full international honours was a call-up to Team GB for the 2012 Olympics, scoring for Stuart Pearce’s squad in a 3-1 win over the UAE at Wembley.
Stoke keeper Jack Butland, Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge all graduated from that squad to gain full honours for England but Sinclair is still on the outside looking in.
The 28-year-old played five group games in the Champions League last season and scored his first goal at the highest level of club football in the recent 3-0 win over Anderlecht.
He has been a mainstay for Brendan Rodgers over the last 14 months and reckons his form is as good today as it was five years ago, when he won a £10million move to Man City from Swansea after his Olympic experience.
Asked if he looked at the England squad before the recent qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania, he said: “Yes, although I would have known before had I been selected.
“People who are in get a call and I wasn’t expecting to see my name. I’m sure loads of players in the Premier League look and compare themselves to those in squad. All I can do is look forward and do what I’m doing.
“I haven’t given up yet. It comes down to this stage – all I can do is as well as I can in the Champions League for Celtic. I would say it’s the only platform to impress.
“I’m the fittest I have ever been and that’s down to playing every week. I’m hungry to score. Even though we’re winning I’m trying to get into positions to create or score. That’s in me – even if it’s the 90th minute, like Anderlecht.
“I have to be hungry to do as well for the team as possible. Paddy Roberts and Leigh Griffiths are scoring. My job as a wideman is to create and score and that doesn’t change in an occasion such as the Champions League. There are not many other goalscoring left-midfield players. I want to keep progressing and do as well as I can.”
Record Sport columnist Chris Sutton reckons Sinclair should be in the England squad ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has suffered a torrid time at Liverpool following his £35m summer move from Arsenal.
He’s helped Jurgen Klopp’s side to just one win since his arrival and was criticised for a poor showing in the 1-0 win over Slovenia. By contrast Sinclair’s scored 35 goals in 66 appearances since his £2.5million move from Aston Villa in the summer of 2016.
He played a starring role a fortnight ago as Celtic swept aside Anderlecht and he’s keen to continue proving his worth at that level as he sets his sights on Bayern Munich next week.
Sinclair said: “Anderlecht was a massive result and scoring three goals away from home in Brussels will help us. If we play like we did against Anderlecht we can give Bayern a tough game. With the quality in our squad we must aim to get through to the last 16.
“We give that a go and if we fall short we go into the Europa. The main focus is still the Champions League – we’ll try to progress.
“We have gone through the qualifiers and worked hard to get where we are and we must stick together and make sure we do as well as we can. The disappointment of losing 5-0 to PSG has gone. We must look forward to Bayern.”
But it seems as if it isn’t only Southgate who is refusing to acknowledge the work of Sinclair at Champions League level.
He said: “I speak to a few mates after these games but I didn’t get any texts from other players after the Anderlecht result.
“The way we play and when we win the games in the Champions League we have to get plaudits from somewhere.
“Everyone in our group is hungry for success, no matter if it’s the league, cup or Champions League. We keep pushing and wanting to win.”
