Aston Villa's Fabian Delph still clinging to England hope

Fabian Delph today insisted he has not given up on an England future - but admitted he is way down the pecking order.

The midfielder wants an international breakthrough as he makes up for lost time at Villa after labelling his start at the club 'dreadful'.

Delph had been tipped to gatecrash the Three Lions' World Cup squad although his hopes look slim after failing to make England's side for their victory over Denmark this month.

But the 24-year-old, who scored Villa's winner in Saturday's 1-0 victory against Chelsea, is still eyeing a Three Lions call.

"There seems to be a lot of quality midfielder players that are English that are probably above me at the minute. I'll keep grafting and maybe one day," he said.

"My job's just to try to perform for my best for my club. I think it's in every player's head and it's every player's ambition to represent their country, but I think I might be a bit away from that."

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Delph's form has been a revelation this season and he has become a key man in Paul Lambert's side.

His goal gave the club its first back-to-back victories in over three years on Saturday to all but seal Premier League safety.

But a cruciate ligament injury in 2010, which sidelined him for a year, hit his Villa career and Delph admitted he was worried his move becoming a £6m nightmare after a 2009 switch from Leeds.

"I think every player is their own worst critic, but I'm just realistic," he said.

"I'm just being honest. The start of my career here was dreadful. It was down to injuries, it's not something I could have helped.

"Probably the worst injury you can get in football is your anterior cruciate ligament. I also did my lateral meniscus and my medial as well.

"It's been a tough road, but Alan Smith, the physio, has been with me side by side ever since. I've had great fitness coaches that have helped me in the past. I've just picked up little bits from everybody and managed to find the right balance.

"I train every day. I haven't missed a day's training since the gaffer's been here, unless I've been ill. To get over the injuries, basically it's just pure graft and pure hard work, starting at 9am, finishing at 3pm.

"Doing a pre-training warm up, training, finishing training, doing some more lower body stuff, having food and going again."