Peter Crouch has stated his disappointment at not being first choice for England ahead of the World Cup.
Crouch has a fantastic scoring record for England with 20 goals in 37 matches, but so often finds himself behind the less-prolific Emile Heskey in Fabio Capello’s plans.
The 29-year-old forward is viewed as a certainty to travel to South Africa, despite recently losing his place in the Spurs team to Roman Pavlyuchenko, but would like to be Wayne Rooney’s strike partner at the World Cup.
“All I can do is take the opportunities when I get them. But, yes, sometimes it is frustrating (not to be a first-team regular).
“Hopefully I did well enough in the last game against Egypt to play a big part in the next one, against Mexico, and in the World Cup.
“In the back of your mind, it helps to know the manager seems to prefer to play with a big striker, although he has got other options.
“The truth is there are a lot of forwards who want to play alongside Wayne Rooney and I am one of those.”
Crouch admitted he has received no clues from Capello about his starting 11, and doesn’t expect to.
“He is difficult to read to be honest. He rarely takes anyone to one side.
“Players will tell you, it doesn’t matter if you have a hundred caps or are in your first squad, you don’t know where you stand with him.
“Some players had their places cemented under previous managers. Now if you have a couple of bad games he isn’t afraid to drop you, whoever you are. It keeps everyone on their toes.”
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