Danny Care has declared that he is "unbelievably determined" to force his way back into the England squad ahead of next year's World Cup.

The scrum-half, who was dropped following some mixed performances during the recent Autumn Internationals, is keen to avoid a repeat of three years ago when he missed out on the tournament through injury.

"I was devastated when I missed out on the last World Cup,' the Daily Mail quotes him as saying. "I'd been in the squad for three years previously with the main goal of wanting to play in a World Cup. Then to have that taken away a week before we were due to leave was incredibly hard to take."

Care now finds himself behind Ben Youngs and Richard Wigglesworth in the England pecking order, although the 27-year-old insists that he has no intention of relinquishing his place in the squad without a fight.

He added: "It's up to me to get that shirt back. I've been in this position before and it just fuels the fire. As a professional sportsman you learn to deal with it.

"You just have to get back on the horse and show people what you can do. A home World Cup is going to be massive and I'm unbelievably determined not to miss out on another big tournament."

Care is in line to start for Harlequins in their European Cup clash against Leinster on Sunday.