Chelsea captain John Terry will face Azerbaijan on Wednesday believing he has yet to deliver the goods in an England shirt.
Outstanding all season for the runaway Premier League leaders and League Cup winners, Terry is critical of his attempts to oust injured Sol Campbell as Rio Ferdinand's regular partner in central defence.
"At club level, I'm really pleased with the things have gone this year," Terry told reporters as he prepared for the World Cup qualifier in Newcastle.
"I feel as though I've been consistently playing well, week in, week out, but on the international stage I don't think I've made that step up and proved myself yet.
| |||||||||||
Campbell and Ferdinand, who were in superb form during England's run to the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals, are still expected to be Sven-Goran Eriksson's first choice when 2006 qualifying resumes in September.
"I've got great respect for Sol and I look at him and Rio as great players," Terry said. "It's down to me.
"Now I'm in the side, hopefully I can keep the shirt if I keep working hard, keep playing well for Chelsea when Mr Eriksson is at the games, train well when I come away with England and more importantly play well in the games."
NOT SATISFIED
Terry was not satisfied with his Euro 2004, where England reached the quarter-finals before bowing out to hosts Portugal.
"As a tournament, I was disappointed with my personal performance," he said. "But you have to grow up, you have to learn and you have to improve.
"I worked hard over the summer and came back a lot fitter, a lot sharper and I feel that I have improved."
Ultimately, the 24-year-old from Barking has his eye on regular England football and even a shot at the captaincy, like one of his former idols.
"I'm a similar player to Tony Adams," he said. "As a boy, I used to watch him and pay a lot of attention to his game and, growing up, try to put it into my game.
"We've got the same backgrounds, we're both from Essex and both grown up from nothing really. We're both so determined to do well, to never take anything from granted, to better ourselves and to give 110 percent."
