Jonathan Woodgate has hit back at claims he is still "injury-prone" and is eager to feature consistently for Fabio Capello's England side.The 28-year-old is keen to get rid of his 'sicknote' tag and focus on making big impacts on both a club and country stage.
Despite Capello being a fan after the Tottenham Hotspur star's assured performance during the friendly win over Trinidad and Tobago, Woodgate still wants to prove himself to his critics.
"I made my England debut in 1999 and since then, I have missed too many games," he told the Sunday Express.
Woodgate has risen from a torrid finale to his Leeds United career, when he was embroiled in a Crown Court case with team-mate Lee Bowyer and slapped with a three-and-a-half-year FA ban.
And after transfers to Real Madrid, Newcastle United and Middlesbrough, Woodgate is now playing consistently at White Hart Lane and free from injury.
His winning header over Chelsea also helped Spurs to clinch the Carling Cup - making it the club's first piece of silverware in nine years.
But the defender still admits his international career has been a nightmare.
"It's easy to forget that I have played a lot of games in the last two seasons, but I do regret that I haven't played that many for England."
He is also excited by Spurs' latest arrival, midfielder Luka Modric after his £16.6million transfer from Dinamo Zagreb.
"That sends out a message of intent. It's why I signed for Spurs in the first place.
"I am sure we will buy some more players. I don't think Modric will be the last big signing. Anything is possible."
More Football News from TEAMtalk
Comment 1 - 3 of 3
Gotta agree with silkyspur. Ledley is the captain of White Hart Lane but enough is enough. He is a liability now and seems to be crocked every third game. Yes, we missed him when he was out, but doesn't that ring alarm bells? I worry that Modric might end up as 'sicky3'. BTW, let Berby go and bank the cash.I doubt Levy's gonna pay top dollar salaries for the people we need but we have a good squad and it's time for some of our young homegrown players to get out of the shadow of the sulky Bulgarian.
im not bothered whether woodgate gets injured or not its ledley king who is sicknote2, if he and woody can stay fit next season we have as good a chance as anyone,i still think we need some better cover just in case cos at the back last season some of our defending was a shambles,scoring goals isnt a problem its stopping em that lets us down evry year. modric wasnt to bad last night but faded later in the game but he was still the best player on the pitch. i think we should bid for ronaldinho but cant see the chairman paying him more than £50000 a week. oh well we live in hope.
woody mate speaking as a spurs fan myself i dont think that u will get rid of that''sicknote'' tag
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account