Goalkeeper Robert Green has spelt out his determination to be part of Fabio Capello's 2010 World Cup plans.

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Green is a strong candidate to make his first start for his country in either Saturday's qualifier in Kazakhstan or the home clash with Andorra on June 10.

Injuries to David James and Ben Foster have played a large part in presenting the opportunity to Green - who wore gloves with 'England's number six' written on them at one point last season because he felt he had slipped so far down the pecking order. But the West Ham keeper, who has made two substitute appearances for his country, has always retained belief in himself to make the breakthrough at international level.

He said: "The 'number six' gloves thing is ancient history now, or at least I thought it was until people started bringing it up this week.

"It was 18 months ago. It was just a gag started up by the West Ham fans, a light-hearted jibe, a bit of self-deprecation on my part. But I never seriously thought my England chance had gone. I'm still fairly young. I've not hit 30 yet. You look at someone like David James who has done tremendously well for his country and he is now in his late 30s.

"I've got nearly 10 years on him yet and he is still going strong. You've got to take stock of that and how well he has done and how strong he is looking and how he plays. You take encouragement from that - and hopefully between now and the time I'm 39 I'll hopefully get a chance!"