Fraser Forster insists that Celtic being knocked out of the Champions League will not affect his chances of being selected by England for next summer's World Cup finals in Brazil.
The goalkeeper made his debut for his country earlier this month, when he started the friendly against Chile, and he is considered to be next in line for a starting place should Joe Hart remain out of favour at Manchester City.
Forster and Hart were the only two English goalkeepers performing in the competition, but Celtic now only have one group game left - away to Barcelona - before they finish bottom of their group while Hart has been dropped by City following a run of poor form. Roy Hodgson, the England manager, has kept his faith with Hart, but a strong second half of the season by Forster could yet enable him to the claim the No.1 jersey.
Playing in Europe would have strengthened his case, but Celtic will not even fall back into the Europa League. Forster does not believe that his England chances will be affected, though, and he maintained that he would not look to leave in January. "It's a fantastic club," Forster said. "I don't see that being a problem. This club has been fantastic for me over the past three-and-a-bit years. It's obviously very disappointing to be out of the Champions League. But it's just a case of doing well for Celtic now and then I will have to see what happens. The World Cup is still a long, long way away and there's plenty of club football to be played between now and then. I don't know how damaging it is to be out of the European environment. I'll have to wait and see, really."
Forster believes that Celtic have now established themselves as a Champions League club after competing in the group stages for two consecutive seasons. Returning to the competition next year will be part of the players' motivation for trying to retain the title, and so help to maintain competitive standards despite Neil Lennon's side being significantly stronger than their domestic rivals. "It's most important that we lift the title because that gives us the big opportunity to get back into the Champions League next season again," Forster said. "It's important that we get over this disappointment as quickly as we can. We need to show what we can do for the rest of the season."
There were still causes for regret in the 3-0 loss to AC Milan, not least the poor defending that contributed to the goals. The first two came from set pieces, with Kaka left unmarked for the opening goal and Cristian Zapata could not fail to score from close range for the second. Even the visitors were surprised at how lax the defending was. "I'm surprised that in the end it was so comfortable, really surprised," Urby Emanuelson, the Milan full-back, said.
"You imagine coming here and it being such a hard game, with Celtic's reputation and with the big crowd, but we were able to take our chances and see the game out without a problem. It's especially surprising to face a British team who lets you score from corner kicks not once, but twice. It's not often you see that, because that's an old British strength."
The Dutchman did, though, have words of encouragement for his compatriot, Dirk Boerrigter, who recently joined Celtic from Ajax but has yet to establish himself in the side. "He'll become a regular, because he is an excellent winger," Emanuelson. "We were together at Ajax and I know things were difficult for him there for many reasons, so in Milan I wished him well and did the same again this time. The only thing I couldn't do was help him get a result. We need it more."
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