Owen Hargreaves believes that he can find his way back in the England set-up if he continues to improve his fitness and play regularly for Manchester City.
The 30-year-old, who played competitively on four occasions in the last three years, signed for City on a free transfer from bitter rivals Manchester United this summer.
Despite his injury setbacks, the midfielder is confident that he can regain full fitness and work his way back to the national side.
"I'm a competitive person. I like to set my targets high,” Hargreaves told The Independent.
"I've never not succeeded in achieving something that I've set myself out to achieve. I've just got to take it step by step. I've just got to get back in training, consistently playing.
"It's a natural progression. If I do a great job here, then I will be in the England team probably again. So we'll take it step by step first."
Hargreaves is expected to make his debut for the North West club against Birmingham in the Carling Cup third round tonight (Wednesday).