Everton defender Sylvain Distin feels Leon Osman is capable of winning an England call.

Osman has scored twice in eight games for the Blues so far this season as they have climbed into the top four, but Distin insists his 31-year-old team-mate must remain philosophical.

He told the Liverpool Echo: "In football it's a case of one guy deciding if you play or not. Tomorrow it can be a new manager and you go from being on the bench to being captain. Maybe they just don't like the way you play or simply prefer another player.

"All Ossie can do is keep doing what he has done so far and keep working hard and his chance might come - but there's a lot of things in football that you can't and never will be able to control. You can often wonder "Why him - not me?" but there's no point wasting your time thinking about it.

"The most important thing is what you're doing at this club and having a good career. We all want to play for our country but sometimes we're not in the right time or the right place, and you just have to make sure you don't have any regrets."