Thursday 8 September 2016 23:18, UK
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has told Jamie Vardy to prove to England boss Sam Allardyce he deserves to play for his country.
The forward was left on the bench for the last-gasp 1-0 win in Slovakia on Sunday, despite Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney struggling for form on the night.
Kane has scored once in his last seven internationals and is yet to net for Tottenham this season, while Rooney only has two goals for his country since November.
Daniel Sturridge was preferred ahead of Vardy off the bench despite the Liverpool forward's recent injury struggles but, speaking ahead of Saturday's trip to Liverpool, Ranieri has urged his Premier League-winning striker to have faith in his abilities.
"Yes he's refreshed, he trained very well, for me it is good - for him no, maybe he is more hungry. Show me. You have to fight and say 'hey Sam I am ready to play'," said Ranieri.
"It wasn't only Jamie. Also [Daniel] Amartey, [Danny] Drinkwater, Ben Chilwell, Shinji Okazaki and a lot of my players went around the world without playing.
"That's good. They recover a little more. If these managers are national managers they want the players and we must understand the international managers need players and then they can choose.
"It's important that everybody is in good condition."
Vardy scored one of the goals of the season against Liverpool last term when he fired a brilliant volley in their 2-0 win in February as Leicester marched to the title by 10 points.
The match is Liverpool's first home game of the season after the redevelopment of their Main Stand and Ranieri believes Vardy and Leicester need to be confident.
"We are a very strong team. We didn't win the title because we are lucky. We won because we were better than the others. We must be confident."
