I must improve if I’m to wear the England 15 shirt again, says Saints star Foden

But he does admit he needs to make improvements to his own game if he is to don the England 15 shirt again.

Saints have only been shorn of three England players this autumn, with Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood included in all four matchday squads for the Tests.

For the likes of Calum Clark, Lee Dickson, Stephen Myler and Luther Burrell there has been frustration as they have been sent back to Franklin’s Gardens.

Foden, too, has been overlooked, with Mike Brown starting every game for England at full-back.

And the Saints man said: “It’s a bit weird (having so many England players around at this time of year), but they (the England coaches) have an idea of what they want to do.

“The England team has a few areas that need to be worked on and sometimes people are going to miss out because of that, but the likes of Luther are very unlucky. If he didn’t pick up his (hand) injury, he’d have been playing.

“It’s disappointing, but we’ve done all we can. We’re top of the table, we’re playing well and we’ve just got to keep doing that, keeping putting a marker down, keep knocking on the door and hopefully someone will answer it.”

Foden, who has 34 caps to his name, has not played for England since last autumn, but is desperate to force his way back into the setup with the World Cup to be staged on home soil next year.

The 29-year-old has managed to put together a string of appearances for Saints this season, shrugging off previous injury woes, and is hoping his chance will come soon.

“It’s nice to be talked about, especially in a positive way and especially because I’ve been out of the international scene for quite a long time,” he said.

“The last time I played was in the last autumn internationals and it was on the wing so it’s been a while since I put on the 15 shirt for England. Hopefully I won’t have to wait much longer.

“I feel good. I could always improve my game and that’s what England are waiting for.

“There’s been a few games where I’ve stepped up to the mark, but I still think there’s more to come from me and the next aim is the Six Nations.

“There’s a lot of games to play before then and hopefully I can state my case further and put some more pressure on Browny.”