Jermaine Jenas has set his sights on forcing his way into England's squad for the Euro 2012 finals as he looks to rebuild his career on loan to Aston Villa from Tottenham.
The midfielder scored the first goal of the Fabio Capello era - against Switzerland at Wembley - but won the last of his 21 caps nearly two years ago against Brazil in Doha. Jenas accepts his lack of first-team chances at Spurs means Capello has not had the option of picking him in recent times, but hopes to put a frustrating spell behind him.
Jenas said: "First and foremost I've got a list of objectives I would love to achieve this year. I've got to get into this Villa team and get a run of games under my belt. If I can do that, and get some form going, I've always been confident that I'm good enough to play for England."
He added: "It's just always been a problem the last couple of years that I haven't been able to get the run of games at Tottenham.
"To be fair to Fabio, he hasn't even had the chance to select me but, if I get that run, then come the end of the season my name will be in the hat for the European Championships."
Jenas will relish the chance to play regular football after struggling to make an impact at Tottenham.
He said: "We had a huge squad, I picked up the odd knock here and there which didn't help, and it is tough.
"I went on a really good run at the start of last year, started all the Champions League games, and then picked up a little niggle and next thing, someone comes in.
"All it takes is for them to have a good couple of games and you are sat there again. It was just in and out, in and out from there.
"It has been very frustrating for me but I'm hoping to put that behind me this year, get my head down, work hard, and hopefully the England calls will start coming at some time."
Source: PA
