• Premier League

Sturridge not thinking about England chance

Daniel Sturridge insists he is only focused on making his mark at Chelsea despite speculation linking him with a first senior England call-up following Wayne Rooney's three-match international ban.

Rooney's suspension for the opening three matches of next summer's European Championships means England manager Fabio Capello needs to find a replacement for the tournament itself and numerous friendlies in the build-up.

Capello has so far ignored England Under-21 Sturridge, but he is one of the in-form strikers in the Premier League and his absence from the last squad came as a surprise. However, Sturridge is taking it all in his stride.

"If England comes and I play for England then great,'' Sturridge said. "But I am not really worried about playing for England - it is not something I am really stressing about. My main focus is to play for Chelsea every week and if I can do that then I am happy.

"It has been a long time I have been playing at Chelsea now and I have not been playing regularly so for me the most important thing is to be playing regularly. I could play a lot better than I am and I am getting used to the position out wide. I enjoy playing there.''

With Capello having recently switched to a three-man attack, Sturridge could prove the ideal replacement for Rooney, who is now banned for all England's group games at Euro 2012. Sturridge has shown he can play across the front three and his international credentials were given a ringing endorsement yesterday by team-mate Ashley Cole.

"He is one of the hardest guys to mark in training because of the speed he plays at,'' Cole said. "He can go inside and outside and he is strong. "He should have been in the last England squad and, if he keeps doing what he is doing, he will be in the squad for Euro 2012, no problem at all.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.