Jack Butland ready for England recall after fine Stoke form

Jack Butland is eyeing a spot back in the England squad after becoming the first-choice goalkeeper at Stoke.

The 22-year-old earned his solitary cap three years ago in a friendly against Italy, after he had travelled with the squad to Euro 2012, where he did not feature.

Butland has impressed for the Potters so far this season, and has thrown his name into the hat for Roy Hodgson's squad for the forthcoming European Qualifiers against San Marino and Switzerland.

The England boss is set to name his squad on Sunday, and Butland - speaking to Soccer Saturday ahead of Stoke's clash with West Brom - is hoping to have played his way back into the fold.

"For me, playing for my country is the ultimate honour, and I've been fortunate enough to do that through many of the age groups," he said.

"It's something that will never get old or boring for me.

"To be linked with being back in the senior squad and the prospect of being there is just adding confidence and is an incentive for me to keep on improving and working hard.

"That's where I want to get to. I want to test myself, playing with the best and against the best.

"I can do that at international level, so that's my target and what I want to reach.

"I'm sure the [Stoke] manager [Mark Hughes], from a selfish point of view, won't want me to go, but I'm raring to go and feel like I'm fit enough to do that, so we'll see what happens."

Stoke have yet to win this season, losing to Liverpool at home on the opening day before earning draws at Tottenham and Norwich.

Butland, however, insists there is still a positive feeling around the Britannia Stadium, buoyed by the arrival of some big names including Xherdan Shaqiri and Ibrahim Afellay.

"It's a positive time for the club, with the players that have come in," he added.

"There's a big buzz around the club at the start of the season. We've not quite got that win yet, but we're gelling and everybody's fitting together - we haven't disgraced ourselves but we know we can do better.

"We've got some incredible players in those forward areas. There's any of seven, eight, nine players to choose from to fill those three positions, so the competition is brilliant.

"It's a credit to the manager that we've managed to get these players in, but that shows where we're going."