Crofts: I'd love to play England (From The Argus)

Crofts: I'd love to play England

10:30am Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

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Albion captain Crofts has targeted a place in the Wales team for their historic clash against England.

The Welsh have been drawn in the same qualifying group as Fabio Capello's side for the 2012 European Championships in Poland.

Crofts would love to force his way back into John Toshack's squad to be involved in the 100th international game between the two old rivals.

He said: "It was great to be drawn against England. They are a great side and a home nations game is always going to be massive. I am sure everyone will look forward to that one.

"They have got a lot of world class players and they are the sort of games you want to play in. I'll be working my hardest and I hope to get involved in that.

"My form has been really good this season and I know Toshack is going to be keeping a lookout. I think there is a game coming up soon and fingers crossed I'll get back into it."

Kent-born Crofts qualifies for Wales through a grandparent. He skippered the under 21's and has won 12 senior caps.

The last was some time ago but Crofts impressive form for Albion since signing from Gillingham in the summer has put the midfielder back into international contention.

The Euro qualifiers begin in September and. If Crofts continues to catch Toshack's eye between now and then, he could end up facing John Terry, who he grew up with at Chelsea.

Crofts would not be drawn on his former colleague's demotion from the England captaincy.

"It doesn't really affect me," he said. "A lot of things can get blown out of proportion but I don't know the full story, the ins and outs of it, so I can't really say too much about that.

"You have got to let your football do the talking. Your personal life is different from the football and I have just got to concentrate on doing well with my football."

Crofts has been doing just that for Albion. He has scored six goals, five of them since manager Gus Poyet promoted him to the armband, a total he is keen to add to against Huddersfield at Withdean tonight.

"Six is not a bad tally but I want to build on that," he said. "I'll just keep getting in there."

"It wasn't a bad point on Saturday away from home (Leyton Orient). We were looking to get all three but we want to build on that now as well."

Crofts is joint third in the scoring charts with Liam Dickinson. Only one of his goals has been at home, against Wycombe in the FA Cup, while all 11 of Glenn Murray's have been away from Withdean.

The disparity in the figures is a reflection of Albion's appalling record in front of their own fans, both in terms of points and goalscoring.

Poyet said: "Unfortunately we cannot sort it out at home. We have done it only in the (FA) Cup.

"In the league I don't think we have scored more than one goal at home from the moment I arrived.

"That is definitely a problem. Sometimes it is a problem of a player, sometimes the team.

"Against Colchester we had 21 shots, eight on target, and the ones where we didn't hit the target were the clearest chances.

"Sometimes it is the team, like against Charlton, where we didn't create chances for a while. It's a combination."