Peter Crouch sets sight on World Cup place

Peter Crouch has said that he was "gutted" to miss out on selection for the recent European Championships and has now set his sights on featuring at the 2014 World Cup.

The Stoke City frontman boasts an impressive international record of 22 goals in 42 games and he has admitted that he thought this may have been good enough to earn him a place.

The 31-year-old told The Telegraph: "To play for your country in major tournaments is the pinnacle and I was desperate to play in another Euros so I was gutted to miss out.

"My goalscoring record stands up against anybody else and that made it even more frustrating. It's a record I'm very proud of and whenever I've been selected for England I feel like I've done well.

"The manager rang me the day before the squad was announced and said it was a toss-up between me and Andy Carroll and obviously he went with Carroll. He was looking for one target man and out of the two of us he went with Andy."

Crouch added that the World Cup in Brazil is still a target if he continue his solid form with the Potters, who open their Premier League season at newly-promoted Reading on August 18.