Southampton's No.7 on his personal form and World Cup ambitions along with his club's talent.
The next couple of months will be massive in the career of Rickie Lambert.
Southampton's star striker will aim to help his club achieve at least a top-eight finish in the Premier League and, then, he will hope his form has been enough to secure a place at the World Cup.
Lambert was an unused substitute in England's friendly win over Denmark earlier in March and he has not scored at club level since the beginning of February but he is still thought to have a very good chance of going to Brazil.
It is an incredible journey for a 32-year-old who only made his senior international debut last August and it could yet still only be the beginning of the story.
But Lambert, speaking at the launch of Titanfall, knows he cannot rest on his laurels. Here, he discusses his personal form and World Cup ambitions along with his fellow Southampton talent, England's Adam Lallana, Three Lions debutant Luke Shaw and youngster Sam Gallagher.
How is it generally going with you and Southampton at present?
"It is going okay. We had a little bit of a dip but we won on Saturday. Hopefully we can go on a little bit of a run. For me, personally, obviously I want to start scoring again. Not scoring is frustrating but my main objective is to win."
You have scored a few, though, haven't you? Michu and Christian Benteke have both had injury problems but they were expected to have another excellent season yet you have scored more goals than both of them in all competitions. Maybe it has been tougher?
"I have found it harder this season. I have missed chances where I probably would have taken them last season. It is just little differences which are making all the difference with the amount of goals I have scored. But I feel I am still playing the same. I am adapting better to the formation and I am adapting better to the way the gaffer wants me to play. That is not always better for scoring goals but that is not the most important thing. It is probably one of the most important things but it is not everything."
Is Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino asking you to play differently this season to how you have done in the past?
"It is not just me. I think last year it was hard for him to adopt his philosophy straight away, because obviously it was halfway through the season. This season, he has shown me a lot more in depth of how he wants me to play, where he wants me to be at certain times, and I think I understand what he means now. It is working. I am getting in spaces which give other people more space and it is giving them more time on the ball. It is better for the team."
Do you feel confident you can still contribute goals playing that way?
"Obviously I am. Like I said, I want to score more. I am disappointed with my goals tally this season so that is something I want to address in the remaining games."
Do you think that is going to be an important aspect in you pushing for a place in the World Cup squad?
"I think so. It is not everything, like I said, but it is the most important thing for a striker to score goals. I do not think I will be getting judged purely on my goals but it will help if I score quite a few between now and the end of the season."
Are you now feeling more settled in the England squad after being involved again against Denmark?
"I was a lot more relaxed and was not overwhelmed, not that I was too overwhelmed the first time, but I was taking it in. I was just overjoyed to get the call-up again. It had been a few months since the last call-up. I thought it might not come and that might be my last chance."
Does it feel strange that it was only a short time ago that you were over the moon to get a call-up whereas now you are pushing for a place in the World Cup squad?
"At the beginning of the season, I knew it was a World Cup year and so, as an English player, I had a chance. I feel a lot more confident now than before my first call-up. That is through me doing well when Roy Hodgson has given me the chance. I would like to think that is in his mind at the minute and hopefully I can carry on trying to impress with Southampton and, if I get a chance again, in training or wherever. That [in training] is where I try and impress, because that is the only time I get to impress with Roy. I did not play [against Denmark] so I know my main thing was to try and impress in training."
How does it feel when pundits and the media draw up their lists of probable World Cup squads and pretty much everyone includes your name?
"The recognition I have got this year is completely different to the rest of my career. I think I have always done a lot, lot better than the credit I have got. This year, I have maybe not done as well as last year but I think a lot of the critics have been very nice to me, which I have not been used to in my career. It is nice, because you want to be liked, but I know that is not going to make up Roy Hodgson's mind so it does not really matter to me that much."
It has been suggested it could be a decision between you and West Ham United's Andy Carroll to go to the World Cup. Do you see it that way?
"Probably. There is a chance both of us might not go but he [Hodgson] does like that type of striker so there is a big possibility that one of us will go. I do not think both of us will go so there is no hiding the fact that there is a big possibility that that is what is going to happen."
You must have been pleased for Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana to see how well they did against Denmark?
"I was. When Luke went on, I could not stop smiling, because I have seen him come from the youth team. It is brilliant when that happens to see him progress like that. He was really nervous, as you would be at 18, and I was trying to reassure him. But I knew I did not have to, because he is that good I knew when he got on the pitch he was going to be fine."
