Matthew Hoggard has welcomed his return to England's squad for next week's opening Test - but has admitted he still has a battle to make the starting line-up against New Zealand at Lord's.

The 31-year-old Yorkshire seamer was dropped alongside Steve Harmison for the final two Tests in New Zealand and was forced to watch from the sidelines as a young attack comprising Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson helped England to successive victories.

His form at county level at the start of the season, however, has persuaded the selectors to include him in a 12-man squad for next week, although he accepts his next big challenge is persuading the selectors to change a winning line-up.

"There's a long way to go but obviously I'm very happy about being included but the 11 who played in the last Test in New Zealand finished with two winning Tests so I need to keep knocking on the door because they're in the driving seat at the moment," admitted Hoggard.

"I was hoping to get back into the squad because I thought I'd done enough to get back in and make sure I stayed in - if I hadn't been in the squad I'd have thought that could have been the end of me."

Hoggard needs just five wickets to overhaul Brian Statham's haul of 252 victims to move into fifth place in England's all-time list of England Test wicket-takers.

But unless there is a dramatic change of heart from captain Michael Vaughan and the selectors, Hoggard is the man most likely to miss out regardless of his previous record.

"I'm quite capable of starting at Lord's if you look at my record, but they are the men in possession at the moment," he conceded.

"Jimmy's bowling really well, he's just got a five-for against Durham, and the other lads I played against at Headingley and they're bowling well. It's up to the selectors but it's good for English cricket that there's all these people vying for not so many places."

He admitted he is "desperate" to win his England place back after 67 previous Test appearances, but is prepared to knuckle down and work even harder if he fails to make the starting line-up.

"There are two ways to react to it, you either accept it, roll over and die or you fight for your place - I didn't feel like rolling over and dying so I've been fighting for my place," he stressed.

"I worked hard in New Zealand and I've been working hard since I've been back in England and hopefully I've put in the right amount of work and had the right attitude to show them that I still want to play for England. I'm desperate to play for England and I want to put the three lions on when I get to Lord's.

"I look after my own game and as a player that's all you can do. You can't worry about what anybody else is going to do or how the selectors are going to react.

"You've got to look after your own game, make sure you're in A1 condition and make sure you're on top form. If that's not good enough then you're going to have to work a little bit harder."

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