Rio: England axe woke me up

Rio Ferdinand says being axed by Sven Goran Eriksson was a 'wake-up call'.

The Manchester United defender lost his starting place for England's decisive qualifying game with Austria last autumn after a spell of poor form with The Red Devils.

The former West Ham United and Leeds United player missed the win over the Austrians, but was called back into the starting XI for the victory over Poland after Arsenal's Sol Campbell pulled out injured.

Missing the Austria game proved the spark Ferdinand needed to get himself back on form and in the reckoning to start at next month's World Cup finals for The Three Lions.

"The manager said 'I am not going to play you against Austria' and being told something like that is devastating," Ferdinand said.

"You don't want to be dropped by anyone, let alone the England manager.

"That definitely hit home. It was at a period of the season when I hadn't played well for a couple of games.

"I knew what I had to do to get back into the team, to play well and get my form on track at United, and I managed to do that.

"Unfortunately, Sol got injured and that was my opportunity to get back into the team almost straight away, but it was a wake-up call.

"If it wasn't a wake-up call, then I shouldn't even be in the England team.

"I got my head down and by the end of the season, I was happy with the way I was playing and, fingers crossed, that will carry on into this coming period of games and the World Cup."

Ferdinand is pleased there is good competition for places at centre back, as with the rest of Eriksson's side.

"There are a lot of good centre-halves and that is good," he added.

"If we had an XI that everyone could pick, that would mean English football is on a downward spiral.

"It is good people are saying 'he should play' or `he shouldn't play', because it means there is competition for the spots."

The defender is desperate to make up for missing the European Championship two year ago, as he was serving a suspension for missing a drugs test.

"I don't think you can fully put into words how much you miss a tournament," Ferdinand said.

"It's like a big chunk out of your career. I missed eight months of football. I missed The Premiership as well.

"To miss a European Championship is massive. Sometimes I hear people talking about what happened in Euro 2004 and I can't get involved.

"I don't know what they are talking about and that is always a little reminder of what happened.

"I wanted to be involved. That's gone and if I keep looking back, it's not going to be beneficial to anyone.

"But it makes you more hungry. You want to be part of something that goes down in history and if we do well by the end of this tournament, there is a good chance our names will be in concrete in history."