Darren Bent is hoping to use the remaining eight games of the Barclays Premier League season to persuade England boss Fabio Capello he is worth a seat on the plane to the World Cup finals.
The 26-year-old Sunderland striker scored a 20th league goal of the season for the first time yesterday as he took his tally in all competitions to 21 with a double against Birmingham. Only Wayne Rooney, with 25, and Didier Drogba on 21 have scored more in the current Premier League campaign, and fellow Englishmen Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Emile Heskey are all behind him on the list.
"Of course every player wants to go to a World Cup, but at the same time, it is not up to me, really," he said. "All I have got to do is keep knocking them in and just go from there."
He added: "It would be nice. Every time I score a goal, I get asked the question about England, but the only thing I can do is just keep doing what I am doing, keep performing well and keep playing well.
"Obviously if I go, I will be delighted and if I don't get picked, I have done myself no harm by scoring the goals I have."
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