JERMAIN DEFOE has expressed his “disappointment” over his Euro 2016 snub.
The Sunderland striker scored 15 Premier League goals to save the Black Cats from the drop, with Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy the only Englishmen to net more.
But Defoe, who earned the last of his 55 Three Lions caps in November 2013 against Chile, was overlooked in Roy Hodgson’s initial 26-man squad.
And the Black Cats star, 33, admitted: “Obviously when you are not in it, it’s a disappointment.
“I feel like I did everything I could do.
“I was delighted that we stayed up and, on a personal note, delighted with the amount of goals I scored.
“I’m quite relaxed about it because I haven’t been involved for a while.
“I always thought that to get in an England squad for a tournament is based on merit and as a forward, if you score goals, you have a chance of going.
“So towards the end of the season I started thinking about England. People were starting to mention my name about maybe getting into the squad.
“But before, I wasn’t really thinking about it, I was so focused on trying to help Sunderland stay in the Premier League.”
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Defoe has previously proven himself on the biggest stage internationally, playing far better than Wayne Rooney in three appearances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – scoring a crucial winner against Slovenia.
And, six years on, the same conclusion might be reached over the pair. Rooney has looked an anonymous, spent force for the Red Devils this season – shoved back into midfield after the emergence of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.