Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe has said it would be a dream for him to be named in Sam Allardyce’s England squad later on Sunday. Defoe scored 15 goals to help his team avoid relegation last season and worked under Allardyce at the club.
The 33-year-old was overlooked by the former England manager Roy Hodgson for the European Championship this summer and the striker was not included in his World Cup squad two years earlier. Defoe’s last cap came three years ago, against Chile. Defoe, who scored his second goal of the season in a draw against Southampton on Saturday, has scored 19 goals for England to date.
“If I am in the squad it’ll be a dream,” said Defoe. “Sam can’t treat me any different because he was my manager last season. I suppose you’ve got to deal with it. We’ll see what happens. But I just want to keep working hard and keep scoring my goals.
“It’s always at the back of your mind when you are scoring goals, which is what I get judged on. It’s as simple as that. I’ve always said, just concentrate on my club football and see what happens after that.”
Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United forward who was included in Hodgson’s squad for Euro 2016, was named in Gareth Southgate’s England Under-21 squad on Friday.
Allardyce will name his squad for the World Cup 2016 qualifier against Slovakia on Sunday, with Manchester United’s Luke Shaw and West Ham United’s Mark Noble also thought to be under consideration.
The Sunderland manager, David Moyes, said after the draw at St Mary’s that Defoe’s inclusion in the squad would not be a great shock. “I wouldn’t be surprised at all because he’s a goalscorer,” said Moyes. “Sam knows him better than me but he’s a good pro and he wants to do things right.”
