JERMAIN Defoe insists he is happy to bide his time after maintaining his form with another goal in England's 2-1 friendly win over Slovenia.
The Tottenham striker came off the bench to double England's advantage in the second half, after Frank Lampard had opened the scoring from the penalty spot at Wembley.
Defoe is now in firm contention to start Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Croatia but claims he will be willing to play any role asked of him by Fabio Capello.
Defoe told ITV1: "Everyone wants to play; no one wants to sit on the bench. But at the end of the day if I can come on and make an impact like I did I'll do that.
"The manager picks the team. The first-half performance was good from the lads, and I will just keep working hard and see what happens."
Defoe scored twice in last month's friendly against Holland, while his early-season performances for Spurs have also been impressive.
He added: "I'm playing with good players, so obviously I'm going to get opportunities to score or get in positions to score.
"At the minute, everything seems to be going in - and I'm delighted."
Defoe is now in firm contention to start Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Croatia but claims he will be willing to play any role asked of him by Fabio Capello.
Defoe told ITV1: "Everyone wants to play; no one wants to sit on the bench. But at the end of the day if I can come on and make an impact like I did I'll do that.
"The manager picks the team. The first-half performance was good from the lads, and I will just keep working hard and see what happens."
Defoe scored twice in last month's friendly against Holland, while his early-season performances for Spurs have also been impressive.
He added: "I'm playing with good players, so obviously I'm going to get opportunities to score or get in positions to score.
"At the minute, everything seems to be going in - and I'm delighted."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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