Crouch holds England hope

Striker eager to be involved in Capello's plans

Last updated: 17th August 2008

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Crouch: England ambition

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Peter Crouch is hoping that scoring goals for Portsmouth will lead to a recall to the England squad.

The angular striker has been left out of Fabio Capello's plans for Wednesday's friendly against Czech Republic at Wembley.

However, England coach Capello has expressed his delight at Crouch's decision to leave Liverpool to join Portsmouth over the summer.

Crouch is now looking to break back into the national team by forging a productive partnership with Jermain Defoe at Fratton Park.

Ambition

"If I play well at club level and I'm scoring goals, the ambition is to play in the international side," Crouch told Sky Sports 1.

"If I do well enough for Portsmouth, and score as many goals as I can, I hope to force my way into the England setup and try to get in the team."

The 27-year-old acknowledges that he needed to quit Liverpool in order to boost his prospects of playing for England.

He added: "I think it was there for all to see last year that I got nowhere near enough games.

"What I wanted to do was further myself and if you have any aspirations of playing for England you need to be playing regularly."