ONE Middlesbrough player is hoping this week's international break will be one of the last he spends on Teesside for the foreseeable future.

Gaizka Mendieta, who has spent the last fortnight topping up on his fitness levels at Boro's Hurworth training ground, hinted, he does not fancy being left behind next month while several of his colleagues jet off on international duty again.

Considering England travel to Madrid to face Spain in a friendly on November 17, it is understandable why he does not wish to remain home alone when the Premiership next takes an international sabbatical.

Mendieta was part of the Spanish squad which made the quarter finals of the 2000 European Championships, in Belgium and Holland, and appeared three times for his country in the 2002 World Cup held in Japan.

But the Bilboa born midfielder has recently fallen out of favour and won the last of his 39 international caps in Spain's 1-0 home win over Bulgaria two years ago when he was on loan at Barcelona from Lazio.

It will come as no surprise to learn Mendieta still harbours a return to the Spanish set-up and despite several prominent stars announcing their retirement from the international stage - such as: Paul Scholes, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Pavel Nedved - after last summer's European championships, he made it clear he was not one of them.

The 30-year-old returned to the Boro starting line up in his side's impressive 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, and despite spending nearly four weeks out with a calf injury the Spaniard turned in his best display of the season.

The skilful midfielder played down his chances of a recall into the Spanish fold but knows if he continues to perform as he did at Man Utd it would be hard for boss Luis Aragones to ignore him.

He said: "I would like to go back in to the national team but I have been away for a long time now so I always keep my feet on the floor.

"But as a player you always want to play for the national team of your country."

England face Azerbaijan tonight on the back of Saturday's comfortable 2-0 victory over Wales with Mendieta claiming Three Lions' starlet Wayne Rooney is unique.

The Middlesbrough favourite has played with some of the world's top players in his time at Valencia, Lazio, Barcelona, and Boro, of course, and says he can not compare him with anyone else.

He said: "It is difficult to compare him to another player because he does not play in an exact position. He is not a forward and not a player to play behind the striker; he's a mixture of different qualities.

"He could be an original. At Everton he played with two strikers but he likes to drop and take the ball so in this way he is original.

"He is a good player and he is very young. A lot of pressure is on him with his move to Manchester United.

"It is not the same the pressure playing in Everton to Manchester as it is different. He has English players in the national team and that will help him to settle in.

"But it will be interesting how he'll react from now until the end of the season."