Saturday 27 August 2016 10:23, UK
Ross Barkley says Roy Hodgson should have "shown more faith" in him at Euro 2016.
The Everton midfielder was included in Hodgson's final 23-man squad for the tournament in France but failed to make an appearance as England crashed out following a disappointing defeat to minnows Iceland.
Barkley believes he deserved more of a chance with the Three Lions this summer and is determined to use his disappointment as motivation moving forward.
"I'd played a lot in the qualifiers, scored as many as the midfielders there at the time and was devastated I didn't get any game time," Barkley told The Times.
"Roy could have shown more faith in me.
"I was working my hardest - doing double sessions - but wasn't playing. I felt I wasn't important to the squad and that's not a nice feeling.
"I'd never like to be in that position again. I'm going to use what happened in the summer to kick me on this season to get to the next level which I believe I'll get to."
The 22-year-old midfielder has made an impressive start to the season and capped his first match as Everton captain with a superb long-range free-kick against Yeovil Town in the EFL Cup on Tuesday.
Barkley is expected to be included in Sam Allardyce's first England squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Slovakia on September 4.
And the Everton midfielder says he is relishing the opportunity of working with the former Sunderland boss.
"Sam's positive. He's a winner. I played against his Sunderland team. They weren't in the greatest form, were battling relegation, but they were solid and won 3-0," Barkley said.
"You can see he has a winner's mentality and that will be great for England."
