Defoe not expecting England call

Jermain Defoe does not expect to receive another England call-up no matter how many goals he scores for Sunderland.

Defoe has not played for England since the defeat to Chile in 2013 and continues to be overlooked by the national team despite being the third highest goalscorer of 2016 in England.

Having scored 15 goals to save Sunderland from relegation last season the 34-year-old continues to be one of the Blacks Cats in-form players, netting three goals in his last four appearances to help the club move up the table, but he admits time is running out for him to earn a call-up to the England squad.

"I’ve not heard anything," Defoe said when asked if he had spoken to new England manager Gareth Southgate. "It’s not like I’ve given up, but it does get to a point where you think, is it ever going to happen?

“I feel good, it’s the sharpest I’ve felt in a long time.

"I’m enjoying training every day, I feel sharp, I feel strong, I feel fit and I feel confident – and for a striker that’s so important.

"But I almost feel like it doesn’t matter what I do, even if I get the Golden Boot I still don’t think I’d get called up.

“I don’t really like talking about it. I wouldn’t want the gaffer to have a word (with Southgate) because you get called up on merit, so I’ll just keep letting my football do the talking.”

After a difficult start to the season, Sunderland have won three of their last four games to climb to 18th in table and Defoe has paid tribute to manager David Moyes for keeping calm during their struggles.

"The manager is experienced. He's been there and done it," he told talkSPORT.

"We didn't have the best of starts but he was always relaxed in training. Every day he's wanted to improve the team, we've worked a lot on possession, he keeps saying 'we need to keep the ball better'.

"In terms of possession, moving the ball about and making chances, Leicester was the best we've played. That's come thanks to the training we have done."

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