Paul Ince yesterday faced up to the fact that his England career may be over after he was omitted from Sven Goran Eriksson's first squad yesterday.

The Middlesbrough skipper's name was not among the 31 for the friendly with Spain at Aston Villa next week but he said: "I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. What will make me lose sleep is if we lose to Southampton tomorrow."

At 33, Ince is unlikely to be called up again after winning 56 caps in an eight-year international career.

"I'm not being disrespectful but, to be honest, it doesn't really bother me," he added. "My main objective is to run my guts out for Middlesbrough and try to give 110 per cent.

"I've done everything I can for my country, been captain and played in World Cups and European Championships. Now I'm just looking at Middlesbrough, no further."

But centre-back Ugo Ehiogu, who will be out of domestic football until the middle of April following today's test against Southampton at the Riverside, is included.

Ehiogu could do battle against one of Middlesbrough's top transfer targets at Villa Park on Wednesday, after Spanish coach Antonio Camacho named La Liga's top scorer, Javi Moreno, in his squad.

The 26-year-old Alaves striker has scored 25 goals this season, 16 in the league, and has been checked out by Boro scouts recently.

But Moreno, who has a £5.5m get-out clause in his club contract, is also being monitored by several leading clubs in Spain and Italy.

Ehiogu plays his last game for Middlesbrough for seven weeks today, the time covering his four-match suspension.

And one problem for coach Terry Venables are the places alongside the £8m defender, with doubts lingering over the fitness of centre-backs Gianluca Festa and Steve Vickers.

With Gary Pallister injured and Colin Cooper suspended, 20-year-old Jason Gavin is expected to make his first Premier League start this season since September.

The Eire under-21 captain said: "I don't know if I'll play but it's good to be involved.

"I feel I've been playing well and Terry Venables has talked to me two or three times and said that."

There are also doubts over the fitness of hamstring victim Christian Karembeu

And with Phil Stamp also sidelined with a similar injury, either Robbie Mustoe or Carlos Marinelli could well be named in the starting line-up.

Venables is half-way through his rescue job at Boro, with 11 league games gone and another 11 remaining.

"We have improved but we cannot be relaxed about anything," he said.

"When you are the bottom like we were you have to catch up first. We have done well but we haven't started level so we have to do better than well.

"We are picking up points and the confidence is up because of that. We are getting a lot of draws but when you are confident you have more chance of turning them into wins and that's what we hope will happen now."

l New England coach Sven Goran-Eriksson yesterday insisted that the omission of experienced midfield duo Paul Ince and Dennis Wise did not signal the end of their international careers.

''Absolutely not,'' stressed the Swede. ''After five weeks it's very difficult to take the right players and I'm not so stupid that I think I know every player I ought to.

''I'm not saying these are the players we will have every time. The door is open to every English player, including Ince and Wise.

Asked what qualities he was looking for in England players, Eriksson replied: ''You want speed, good technique, intelligent players football-wise, good character, and winners who hate to lose.''

On the injection of youth in his squad, Eriksson said: ''There are many good young players in this country. It's up to us to see if they are ready for the big international games.''

The England coach said he was greatly encouraged by the strong showing of English clubs in European competition.

He said: ''I'm very happy because this year we might have four English teams in the quarter finals in Europe in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup and that's wonderful.''

Eriksson also revealed that he would wait until Monday or Tuesday before naming his captain for the Spain game.

However, sources close to the Swede predict that Manchester United star David Beckham could well be asked to continue with the captain's armband as he did during England's 1-0 friendly loss to European Championship finalists Italy.