ROY ONLY RANG ME ONCE, SAYS DEFOE

ROY HODGSON spoke to Jermain Defoe just once as England manager — a call with bad news before the 2014 World Cup. Defoe, who moved to Toronto from Tottenham three months before the finals in Brazil, has earned a sensational return to the international fold after an exile of more than three years. The Sunderland striker thought his chance with England had gone — even though he kept the St George’s flag stitched on to his boots. ‘We only had one conversation with him on the phone,’ Defoe said. ‘Up until then I had played a full season with Tottenham. It was a quick conversation, “You are not included”. I was scoring goals, so maybe I felt like I had done enough to still go to the tournament, but obviously it was not meant to be. It was a hard phone call to accept because I felt in my heart I did enough to get on the plane.’ Defoe admitted he needs to remain in the Premier League next season to stand any chance of going to Russia, which could have implications if Sunderland — currently bottom of the table and seven points from safety — are relegated. He added: ‘I sat back (in Toronto) and thought if I have still got that ambition to play for England I need to be playing in the Premier League again. That was probably behind my decision to come back.’