Wayne Rooney has vowed to rise to his "huge challenge" of staving off competition from Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane to keep his place as England's first-choice striker at Euro 2016.
The Three Lions captain has struggled for form with Manchester United this season, scoring twice in 11 Premier League games while his striking rivals continue to thrive.
Leicester City's Vardy leads the way in the golden boot stakes with 12, while Tottenham Hotspur marksman Kane has struck five in his last three league games.
Nevertheless, Rooney, his country's all-time leading scorer with 50, believes that such a wide array of goalscoring talent can only benefit England in France next summer.
"If the manager needs to have a look to see what he can do at international level, you have to understand that," he is quoted as saying by The Guardian. "It's a huge challenge to keep your place in the team and that's what I want to do. I want to prove myself. I feel that since Roy has been in charge, my international form has been great, I have scored a lot of goals and I hope that will continue.
"As a footballer you want to play. But then I have to understand I have played a lot of games for England and players like Jamie Vardy have come in and done well. It's certainly the best group of strikers since I've been involved in the squad.
"We've also got players such as Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Theo Walcott out injured so it's a huge array of talent and great for the country. In previous years we've gone into tournaments and haven't had that many match-winners in the squad. Now we've got quite a few match-winners, which can only benefit us as a team."
Vardy was expected to spearhead Roy Hodgson's attack in Friday's friendly with Spain, but an injury has ruled him out. Rooney will also play no part.
Shane Callaghan
