HAVING been distinctly unimpressed with England’s performances at the World Cup finals, Joey Barton has controversially claimed he is more than a match for any midfielder in the country.

Barton, who won his one and only international cap under Sven-Goran Eriksson in February 2007, has hardly kicked a ball in the last three seasons thanks to a combination of injury and indiscipline.

He boasts just 34 senior starts since joining Newcastle three summers ago, and missed six months of last season with a serious foot injury.

He returned to action in the second half of Saturday’s friendly win at Carlisle, however, and with characteristic bluntness, is already targeting an international place.

“First and foremost, I want to do well for Newcastle United,”

said Barton. “But watching some of the performances in the World Cup over the summer, I think that, on form, I’m as good as anybody in this country.

“I don’t say that lightly, and I have to go out and prove that, but surely every midfielder in this country should be thinking like that.

“They should be looking at it and saying, ‘That’s where I want to be and that’s where I can go’.

“That’s my goal, and if I break into the England squad, it proves I am doing fantastic for this football club.”

While Barton has never been afraid to voice high opinions of himself, his latest words will prove particularly controversial given his inability to live up to his reputation on the domestic stage since his £5.8m move from Manchester City in 2007.

The 27-year-old is yet to justify his transfer fee, and some will claim he would be better advised to concentrate on his own performances rather than deliver chapter and verse on the failings of his peers.

Nevertheless, with the English game still reeling from the fall out from their disastrous displays in South Africa, Barton has questioned the quality of the current national team and criticised Fabio Capello for his refusal to look beyond the same small group of players that underperformed under his predecessor, Steve McClaren.

“They were built up to do quite well and I thought they would do well,” said Barton.

“Obviously, it didn’t really happen.

“People are going to chip in with their opinions, but none of us know. None of us played in that atmosphere or played in that pressure. As Englishmen though, it wasn’t good.

“Hopefully, this can force the game to change and now they will stop picking big names and instead pick players that are playing well. All of the successful countries do that.

“It seems to me that the dynamics of the national game have to change. Fabio Capello said he will pick players who were in form. Sometimes, it hasn’t happened like that and people have been picked when they haven’t performed at club level.

“I think if we can get anyone from this football club into the England team we’re doing really well. It’s not usually players picked from the lower echelons of the Premier League – it’s from the top.”

Barton is not the only Newcastle player to have been reflecting on the World Cup finals, as goalkeeper Steve Harper has claimed the opening weeks of the Premier League season could see a repeat of the ‘new ball’ controversy that dogged events in South Africa.

Just as FIFA introduced the Jabulani ball for the World Cup finals, so the Premier League are preparing to unveil a new football of their own for the forthcoming campaign.

And while it is not expected to be as unpredictable or difficult to control as the Jabulani, Harper has claimed a new protective coating will make it difficult for goalkeepers to handle in wet conditions.

“I didn’t see a lot of the World Cup, but it looked like the ball was deceiving the goalkeepers a lot,” he said.

“We’ve had a week or ten days working with the new Premier League ball, and that’s different to last year as well.

“It’ll be interesting when it’s wet.

“The balls have a new coating on them, which is going to make them awkward to handle when they’re wet, so I’ll be watching the forecast for the middle of August particularly closely.”