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Blomqvist left out of Sweden squad

EVERTON'S Swedish midfielder Jesper Blomqvist is bitterly disappointed at being left out of the national squad to face Norway in a friendly in Oslo next Wednesday.

Blomqvist has battled back two years of serious knee injuries to regain a place in The Premiership with Everton, but he has not yet done enough to get into the Swedish squad.

The former Manchester United man said that he was pleased with his displays and was gutted to have missed out on the squad.

"It feels really sad, it's a big disappointment," said Blomqvist. "I had hoped and believed something else.

"It has gone well, there is nothing to complain about and I am pleased with my displays.

"I feel I have earned myself a place. If I was picking the squad, I would have been included."

Blomqvist played last month against Switzerland but did not live up to his old form, although coach Lars Lagerback says that he still has a chance of making The Far East.

"Jesper didn't play at 100 percent versus Switzerland but it's hard to draw any conclusions from one match," said Lgerback.

"The most important was that Jesper got to experience the atmosphere again. He has been in the squad before and knows our play.

"We haven't closed any doors and will continue to study him. He needs to play more matches for Everton.

"It's up to Jesper himself now".

Full squad to face Norway:

Magnus Hedman (Coventry), Magnus Kihlstedt, (FC Copenhagen), Tomas Antonelius (FC Copenhagen), Andreas Jakobsson (Hansa Rostock), Pontus Kamark (IFK Gotheborg), Teddy Lucic (AIK), Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Johan Mjallby (Celtic), Michael Svensson (Troyes), Niclas Alexandersson (Everton), Marcus Allback (Heerenveen) Daniel Andersson (Venezia), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax), Marcus Lantz (Hansa Rostock), Andreas Andersson (AIK), Henrik Larsson (Celtic), Tobias Linderoth (Everton), Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal), Stefan Selakovic (Heerenveen), Anders Svensson (Southampton), Magnus Svensson (Brondby).