Nicky Shorey is hopeful that helping Reading avoid relegation will also earn him a recall to Fabio Capello's England squad.The 27-year-old was handed two friendly caps last summer by Steve McClaren when Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge were both unavailable.

Fabio Capello included him in his first squad, a selection of 30 players, but the left-back was one of seven who were discarded before the 2-1 win over Switzerland in February and he was not called upon for Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat in France.

But the former Orient man is back to form following some below-par performances earlier in the season and is hoping to impress Capello in the remaining seven Premier League fixtures, starting with Saturday's visit of Blackburn.

He said: "Just to be in the same breath as Bridge and Cole is a big bonus considering from where I have come from but once you get a taste for it you want to keep on doing it. Hopefully I will get that opportunity.

"It will be tough having those two ahead of me but that is what you are up against when you are trying to play for your country."

Capello has already visited the Madejski Stadium more than once and a return on Saturday would enable him to assess Shorey against David Bentley, the man tipped to succeed David Beckham on England's right flank.

Shorey declared he was relishing the tussle, especially as Bentley was not an out-and-out speed merchant like many top-flight wingers.

He said: "He is a top-quality player. I have seen that up close and personal, especially when I was training with him in the England squad. I'm looking forward to playing against him.

"He is a clever player, a good footballer. He is not a typical winger as such - he is not lightning fast and will knock it by you and go, he uses trickery and his brain, which sometimes is harder to face.

"But I like playing against the best players and he is definitely one of them, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Mikel Arteta. I would put Bentley more in the Arteta bracket. He is a clever player.

"He doesn't just use his pace, he thinks about the game more. I prefer to play against players like that. Anyone can get caught out with a bit of pace. I like to have a thinking kind of match."

Reading's own right winger is John Oster, who will be hoping to put in a performance that will quieten a section of the home support who have been targeting him for abuse.

The former Everton man may be currently being overlooked by John Toshack but picked up a number of Wales caps when Rovers manager Mark Hughes was in charge.

And Oster was convinced it was only a matter of time before the former Manchester United striker was appointed to one of the top managerial posts.

He said: "He's taken Blackburn from being a mediocre Premier League team to one that should be heading into Europe.

"It's no surprise to me that whenever a decent job comes up his name gets put forward. He's a good manager and he'll only go onto bigger and better things - who knows, he could be the next Manchester United manager."

More Football News from TEAMtalk