Alan Smith has reiterated his desire to play for England after his decision not to meet up with the squad for tonight's international friendly against Denmark.
Smith elected to play with Manchester United's reserve team in an effort to improve his match fitness. The former Leeds player has been unable to hold down a starting position this year following the return to fitness of Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
Due to a miscommunication between England coach Sven Goran Eriksson and FA chief executive Brian Barwick, Barwick publicly condemned the player. The FA had understood that Smith had made himself unavailable as he preferred to play for the Old Trafford reserve team side rather than line out for his country.
However Eriksson has since made it clear it was his own mistake that led to the FA's condemnation of Smith. The Swede added that the incident would not affect Smiths hopes of representing England in the future. He said: " I take the blame and it's finished now. The door is not closed for Alan Smith, I promise you."
Manchester United also released a statement, with Smith's consent, to try and clear up the confusion yesterday evening. It read: "Prior to the initial squad announcement United coaching staff spoke with Sven and the FA and it was agreed that Alan Smith would be left out of the squad so he could gain match fitness."
Smith signalled his well-being by scoring for the Manchester United reserve team in their 3-0 win over Bolton last night. He declined the opportunity to speak with reporters afterwards.
