International striker happy with playing time
Tottenham and England forward Jermain Defoe has revealed that he is not worried about the amount of playing time he gets whilst with the national team.
Despite making 46 appearances in seven years (with 17 starts), the 29-year-old has never completed a full 90 for the Three Lions.
And even though Defoe has an acceptable scoring record at international level, with a goal ratio of one goal to every three games, he has been out of favour this season following ankle ligament damage against Switzerland in 2010.
“If England are winning and I am playing well, then great,” commented Defoe.
“Even if I don’t score and come off, I don’t see it as a problem. If you had said all those caps and I’d not started one match, then maybe that would be a problem. But I have started 17 – I’ll take that.
Defoe added, “I’ve scored when I’ve started, I’ve scored when I have come on – so what is the problem? I scored a hat-trick for England against Bulgaria a year ago and came off with 10 minutes to go.
“Then in my next England game against Switzerland, I picked up a bad ankle injury and have played only once for my country in the last six months. I have always enjoyed things with England, it’s been good – up until that Swiss match.”
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has set Defoe a target of at least 20 goals this season, which so far he believes he is on course for following his five goals in the League.
“This season I’ve had no problems. I’ve hit five goals and the manager says he wants 20 from me,” he continued. “I take that as a compliment because I want 20 goals myself. And, yes, it would be nice to play 90 minutes for England.”
