Tottenham Hotspur boss Tim Sherwood feels that Andros Townsend has the ability and self belief to return from injury and force his way into England's World Cup squad.

The winger, who made a goalscoring Three Lions debut in their crucial World Cup qualifier with Montenegro last year, is currently recovering from a hamstring problem.

He is close to a return, and with national team boss Roy Hodgson without the services of Arsenal's Theo Walcott for the tournament in Brazil this summer, there is a spot on England's right flank up for grabs.

While admitting that the 22-year-old is some way off reaching his ambition of being one of the world's elite players, Sherwood does think that he is as good a wide option as England currently have.

He told reporters: "Andros backs himself to be better than anyone else in the world. That is the sort of character he is. He needs to get himself fit and firing again and I am sure you will see the best of it.

"I have known him since he was a kid and he is a good lad. He is a top trainer and he wants to be playing in every minute of every game, but he will get his opportunities and I am sure he will be productive between now and the end of the season for us.

"He wants to play wide and attack people. Wherever you put him on the pitch he will try and take people on. He can learn more but who are we judging him on? We are not judging him against [Gareth] Bale or [Cristiano] Ronaldo at the moment but you can certainly judge him against anything in the England squad."

Townsend has played 19 times in all competitions for Spurs this season, scoring twice.