Duo handed Three Lions hope

Wigan's Emile Heskey has told Michael Owen and Peter Crouch that hard work is the way to force their way back into the England squad.

Heskey has been selected ahead of Newcastle's Owen and Portsmouth's Crouch for the games against Andorra and Croatia as he looks to reprise the role he played 12 months ago under Steve McClaren against Israel and Russia in Euro 2008 qualifiers.

And the former Leicester, Liverpool and Birmingham star believes the example he set during his time in the international wilderness gives hopes to other out-of-favour players.

"I never gave up, and that was shown when I got back into the squad for the two qualifiers with Israel and Russia," he told www.thefa.com.

"You can never give up. You just have to hang in there and keep performing and hope that the manager comes knocking."

The 30-year-old added: "And it is nice to see the manager still has faith in me and wants to put me in the squad."