Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor has revealed that former England manager Fabio Capello thought that he was a midfielder during his time in charge of the side.

Taylor has been called up to the Three Lions squad for the second time in his career for the World Cup qualifiers with San Marino and Montenegro, after Gary Cahill withdrew from the party.

The 27-year-old admits that the Italian's error of judgement destroyed his confidence as far as establishing an international career was concerned.

"Last season Fabio Capello didn't come to watch Newcastle even when we had the best defensive record up to Christmas," Taylor told Sky Sports News. "The gaffer, Alan Pardew, saw Capello at an event and told him: 'You should come and see Taylor.' Capello said: 'I'm all right for midfielders'.

"That did a lot for my confidence. It was almost back to the feeling I had when we got relegated.

"It killed me when we went down. Capello said he wasn't going to pick anybody in the Championship."

Taylor also revealed that he thought his call-up was a prank.