Tuesday 23 October 2018 10:52, UK
Ryan Bertrand still harbours hope of getting back into Gareth Southgate's plans and retaking his place in the England team.
The Southampton captain was overlooked ahead of the Russia World Cup, after Southgate revealed his final squad for the competition.
Bertrand made his displeasure known at the time, but insists he is working hard to let his football do the talking and help the fans make a judgement on his abilities.
"I haven't spoken to him [Southgate] since [World Cup squad selection] He made his decision and this is football," Bertrand told Sky Sports.
"I just let my football do the talking, I'm always there for my country so whether I'm in it [the squad] or not I'll be fully supportive. I just want to play my football and show it on a weekly basis by my performances and the fans can be the judges.
"I haven't closed the door [on England], definitely not. It's one of those things where you don't close the door until the door is fully closed on you.
"Unless he [Southgate] says otherwise I'm still going to play my football and see what happens."
Turning his focus to domestic duties this season, the Champions League winner feels Southampton must get back to a status they once held.
"We need to be far away from where we were last year that's for sure," said Bertrand. "But a sense of realism because it's not going to be back to where we once were when we were missing out on the top four by like four points."
Taking to the pitch recently, Bertrand ran out in boots sporting the image of Martin Luther King and his iconic quote "I have a dream" to mark the beginning of Black History Month.
"It was just something I thought I'd do to perhaps bring a bit of awareness, because personally I feel the whole Black History Month aspect no-one really would have known what it was, so I wanted to do my piece to enlighten the subject and bring attention to it.
"It wasn't with them [sponsors Nike] but just something I wanted to do.
"My struggles of course weren't his struggles but I was a young kid who had a dream to play football and I'm realising my dream."
