Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry admits he "gave up" his England career while Sven Goran Eriksson was in charge.
"There were times when I thought I was not going to get back in again. Three or four years have ticked by; you have not made a squad - and you start fearing the worst.
"Under Sven, I basically gave up hope. People have got their own ideas - and when your name is not mentioned for so long, you do give up hope.
"But I always felt I was playing well enough, that time was still on my side - and I kept just got my head down at Villa and kept going.
"I felt that if and when a new manager came in my chance would come again - and it eventually did.
"Now it is nice to be talked about in a positive light, and I want to get myself around as many England squads as I can and help this team qualify for Euro 2008."
