Season › 2011-12 › News Jagielka happy to be in England squad Michael Kenrick , 30 May, 1comment | Jump to most recent Jagielka travelled to Oslo and impressed in England's 1-0 win, and the 29-year-old admits he soon came to terms with his disappointment at being left out of Hodgson's initial 23-man squad. "Of course I was a bit disappointed and frustrated," he said. "But the manager asked me if I would come training for the four days and feature in the Norway game. "He offered me a chance to play against Norway. If I'd said no at 29, I might as well have said I was retiring from international football. And I don't see myself doing that. "I never thought I'd get this far. That's not me being negative, but a few years ago I was playing in the Championship. "The way football is now, it's a squad game, whether you play for United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool, you don't get to play week-in, week-out, or very rarely anyway. "Unfortunately for Gaz (Barry) he pulled up with a bit of an injury. I didn't think too much of it, but as we were getting on the plane home the boss said he was happy with my performance and if Gaz's scan wasn't good, he'd look to take me. "When I chatted with Gaz on the plane, I knew he wasn't in the best shape. I wasn't counting my chickens, but I was starting to look at the possibility of cancelling my holidays..." "I was expecting to have the kids for six weeks then I've found myself cramming it all into the last couple of days. "I was supposed to be golfing on Friday in Portugal but I'll take being at The Grove instead. "I never envisaged, when I got released by Everton at 15, ever getting back to play for Everton or playing for my country. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm better off being third or fourth choice than 12th or 13th. It's the lesser of two evils. "Saying that, I don't want to be third choice. I want to be first choice, down on the team sheet. "But you've got to be realistic. If I was a betting man, I'd gamble on Gary Cahill and John Terry starting as first choice. "But it's not going to get me down. It's just life and you've got to accept that." Quotes or other material sourced from Sky Sports Jagielka swaps golf for Krakow Reader Comments (1) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads