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JAMES READY FOR ENGLAND CHALLENGE
James - England's number one.
Portsmouth goalkeeper David James has challenged his England rivals to match the standards he has set in the last two seasons at Fratton Park.
James has started England's four games under Fabio Capello and the 38-year-old believes there will be further improvement this season, despite being impressed with the competition he faces from elsewhere.
Joe Hart made his debut against Trinidad and Tobago in June, Robert Green has shown consistency for West Ham, while Scott Carson and Paul Robinson are looking for fresh starts at their new clubs.
Ben Foster and Chris Kirkland are also looking to stay clear of injury, meaning Capello could have plenty of options when England's World Cup qualifying campaign gets under way next month against Andorra and Croatia after a friendly against Czech Republic.
James feels he is still the form goalkeeper but is driven by the competition and got off to a good start this season with a clean sheet in the Community Shield, which Manchester United won on penalties.
"Personally, I think last season and the season before I laid down benchmarks but I have to look for improvement," James said.
"I watched City recently against AC Milan and saw Joe Hart in good form. Capello has to be happy with the state of English goalkeepers.
"I sat down with our goalkeeping coach David Coles a couple of days ago and we had a good chat about how pre-season was going.
"I said to him then I feel good. There were a few things early on against Manchester United which weren't great but I am on the road to improvement and it was nice for 90 minutes to hold out."
James is desperate to get back into international action after the frustration of England missing out on Euro 2008, even if it was other goalkeepers chosen during the ill-fated qualifying campaign.
"My missus stopped me watching too many games and my kids stopped me because they wanted to go out for meals," James said.
"The qualification for the World Cup with the international team is a major must. I don't like summer holidays and we have had the longest summer holiday we have had for many a year.
"Hopefully we can put things right with the England qualifying games coming up and in two year's time hopefully I will have a busy summer."
On the domestic front, James views Pompey's UEFA Cup qualification as a "double-edged sword" where their Barclays Premier League form can be affected due to the work-load.
"You want to do well in every game but unless you win it, it becomes a big ask," he added.
"Europe is a double-edged sword. We have a UEFA cup bid and that is going to put a strain on us with the amount of games and the size of our squad.
"Middlesbrough proved you can go so far in the UEFA Cup but unless you win it, it becomes a bit of a fruitless task and for us it is going to be important we keep our players fit to do well in Europe and on the other front do well in the league.
"We finished eighth last year but it was slightly misleading because with three games to go we lost all three and our focus was more on the FA Cup.
"To win the FA Cup again might be a tall ask but if we can improve league-wise and come seventh or sixth and hopefully finish in Europe - that would be good progress for us."
