Exclusive – Bothroyd: ‘England call-up is the best day of my life’

Cardiff City hot-shot Jay Bothroyd has told talkSPORT of his delight after being named in Fabio Capello’s England squad for Wednesday’s friendly with France.

The striker who has netted 13 goals in 17 games in the Championship for the Bluebirds joined Andy Goldstein’s Sports Bar to talk about the news which he received via text message earlier in the evening.

Bothroyd said: “I found out through a text but everyone had texted me before so I must have got my text [from the FA] late! My friends and family were texting me saying that the England squad has been announced and congratulations and then I got my message.”

Speaking about the euphoria surrounding his call-up at the age of 28 the former Coventry and Wolves star said: “I can’t believe it, it’s the best day of my life. I’m just delighted, I can’t explain it, it’s been a great year so far and I’m just happy to be in the squad.”

"There’s lots of great players in the England squad, I’m just happy to be in it to be honest. I’m looking forward to meeting up with the boys and training. It’s going to be a great experience playing with some of the best players in the world and to be chosen by Fabio Capello, a legendary manager, the words can’t explain how I feel right now.

"I’ve always been confident in my ability, maybe I didn’t apply myself when I was younger, I didn’t work hard enough to really reap the rewards. But now I’ve knuckled down, made a conscious effort to work hard off the ball as well as on the ball and thankfully the rewards are coming for me."

Previously in an interview with talkSPORT Bothroyd had played down his chances of making the England squad despite his good form for Cardiff who are flying high in the Championship.

The modest forward said: “I’m just enjoying my football. They’ve got loads of players to choose from in Premiership, world class players as well, people who play in the Champions League and the Europa League.

“I’m getting on with my job and I’m happy doing that, I’m just concentrating on my football for Cardiff.

“You never know what happens in the future. It’s great to be mentioned in that sort of way by your manager and other pundits but I’m not going to get carried away I just want to concentrate on each game.”