Under 21 international Mark Noble has reaffirmed his commitment to England.
Midfielder wants senior cap
Mark Noble heads the list of Under 21 internationals committing themselves to England rather than pursuing honours with another country.
The West Ham man turned down an approach from Republic of Ireland earlier in his career and he scored twice against them in a 3-0 win for Stuart Pearce's youngsters earlier this week.
He said: "I've been expecting the text messages saying 'why have you scored against our team?' but I play for England.
"The club got a phone call because of my Irish connections. I was thoroughly blown away by that - but I wanted to play for England.
"That was my dream from a young age. I hope I can keep playing the way I am, score a few goals and one day get a chance."
Committed
Noble is now aiming to push for full international honours and has committed his future to England along with Gabriel Agbonlahor and Nedum Onuoha, who could both play for Nigeria.
Agbonlahor's England prospects looked in doubt when he could not be contacted during the summer and subsequently missed the Under 21s European Championships.
The Aston Villa striker has since been brought back into Stuart Pearce's squad and has stated his intention to continue playing for England rather than applying for a swap.
Under 21s boss Pearce, who was Onuoha's manager at Manchester City, has said that he does not envisage the defender playing for Nigeria.
He said: "I've known him for a long time and I've never had a conversation with him about playing for anyone else."
England have now won four consecutive matches in their Euro 2009 qualifying campaign and Noble made an instant return from suspension to play against Ireland, having missed the win over Montenegro.
Develop
Noble, who started out as a playmaker, now has a better all-round ability after former boss Alan Pardew helped to develop the combative side of his game.
Sunderland manager Roy Keane will be wary of Noble's form as his team prepare to face West Ham on Sunday and the Hammers midfielder has nothing but respect for the Irishman.
He said: "I always said he and Patrick Vieira were the best in the league during their days and if I can be half as good as him I'll be happy."
After his international exploits Noble is now hoping to help his club get back on track at Upton Park this weekend.
"We've got to kick on at home. We haven't had a win for three games now and with the squad we have that shouldn't happen.
"We need three points on the board to get back up the table and give our fans something to cheer about. We haven't done that lately."
