Jonjo Shelvey keen to take England chance
Jonjo Shelvey is determined not just to make up the numbers after being handed a second chance by England.
The Swansea midfielder, who won his only cap in 2012, has forced his way back into Roy Hodgson's squad for next week's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Switzerland and San Marino after shining at club level this season.
And 23-year-old Shelvey says he is ready to take his Swansea form into the international arena as England seek the six points that will book their place in France next summer.
"I don't want to just go there (with England) and not play," Shelvey said after again impressing in Swansea's 2-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
"I want to get the chance to play a game.
"If I get the chance I know I can show everyone what I am capable of because I've started this season well.
"But there's still a lot more to come and I will keep working hard and try to kick on."
Shelvey's solitary England appearance came during his three years at Liverpool and there have been times at Swansea when it looked as if he would end his career as a one-cap wonder.
Swansea manager Garry Monk told him to "wise up" last season and scolded him for being "lazy" after growing tired of his indiscipline, but Shelvey took the criticism on board and was rewarded with a new four-year contract in the summer.
Since then he has been at the forefront of Swansea's march into the top four of the Barclays Premier League, his range of passing providing the service for marksmen Andre Ayew and Bafetimbi Gomis and securing his route back into the England set-up."Roy Hodgson is a tremendous manager and I'm sure if you are doing the business on the pitch then he can't ignore you forever," Shelvey said.
"I feel I have warranted a place since the back end of last year. But it wasn't meant to be. Hopefully I can kick on now and really cement my place in the squad.
"I'm not as rash with my tackles and I am trying to stay on my feet. That's something the manager (Monk) and I spoke about.
"If I kept going the way I was then I probably wouldn't be playing at the club or for this manager, but I want to play my football here."
United suffered their first defeat of the season after Juan Mata had given them the lead three minutes into the second half, firing home Luke Shaw's cross from close range.
The Spaniard said lessons had to be learned and United's next test - after the two-week international break - is a huge affair against Liverpool at Old Trafford.
"I think they changed the shape (following the goal) and we didn't read it quickly enough," Mata told MUTV.
"They then created two quick plays and scored two good goals. We are disappointed because we wanted to learn a lesson from last season where we did the same - score first and then lose the game.
"Obviously it is a bad taste now and we would have liked a perfect end to this good run of results, which would have been a win.
"We now have to rest and think about this whilst we're away (on international duty) and know that we need to learn our lesson again."