Latics and England striker Emile Heskey says that he never gave up hope of playing for England under manager Fabio Capello.

The Latics hit man got the nod in Capello's latest squad over Portsmouth's Peter Crouch and Newcastle's Michael Owen.

"I never gave up, and that was shown when I got back into the squad for the two qualifiers with Israel and Russia," he told www.thefa.com.

"You can never give up. You just have to hang in there and keep performing and hope that the manager comes knocking.

"And it is nice to see the manager still has faith in me and wants to put me in the squad."


RUSSIAN ROULETTE: Heskey in action last year.

Heskey, who netted in Latics 5-0 demolition of Hull city last weekend, also says that there's a very determined feeling in the England dressing room these days, after the disappointment of missing out on a Euro 2008 spot.

"We are very determined," Heskey admitted.

"Obviously with us not going to the Euros, I think the tournament missed England a little bit, not just the team but more so the fans - they're brilliant when they travel.

"We're very professional and we go about every game the same, we want to win every game we play in.

"We just want to go out there and have a good performance and get the results we deserve."