West Ham United midfielder Stewart Downing is delighted with his England recall.
Downing, who earned the last of his 34 caps in May 2012, put his outstanding recent form and return to the England stage largely down to a change to a new central role.
"I'm obviously over the moon," he told whufc.com. "If I was being honest I didn't think I'd get picked, so to get picked is obviously a big thing for. I just need to keep playing well for West Ham and hopefully I'll get a couple more caps when I get away.
"These are very big games. Slovenia is a qualifier and you could say Scotland is a friendly, but I don't think we'll class it as a friendly. It'll be a tough game, but is one we want to win. I'm looking forward to being involved. I want to be involved, get a few more caps and put some performances in.
"I think a few players will think they deserved a call-up, including a few of the lads here who have been playing well. It's obviously difficult for the England manager to pick 20-odd players out of the whole country and I understand that.
"The way I've been playing and performing, I thought I was in with a chance and credit to the manager because he has picked me. He has obviously been watching our games and now I just need to put a performance in and stay in the squad, really."
