by Samantha Miller at Wembley

Jermain Defoe is not ready to hang up his international boots and believes he can still play at this level, even at the age of 34.

England cruised through the qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley stadium in a comfortable 2-0 win, Defoe opening the scoring before substitute Jamie Vardy doubled the lead.

Defoe returned to the England squad after three years of being isolated from the international squad.

The Sunderland forward has now scored 20 goals for his country being only one of 22 England players to reach this landmark.

Manager Gareth Southgate has a plethora of strikers to choose from ahead of next year’s World Cup and has given Defoe a chance of making the squad, saying: “There’s absolutely no reason why he couldn’t.”

For Defoe, he still feels like he can contribute at the highest level and backed himself to make the squad next season.

“I never give up,” he said.

“Obviously in my mind I was trying to be realistic I wasn’t getting an opportunity with the previous manager. There were times where I was scoring goals, especially last season, and didn’t get selected for the Euros and I felt like I finished the season strong. I thought maybe I’m not going to get an opportunity.

“Never once did I think I’m going to retire from international football because I’ve worked so hard and I still feel sharp. I always thought if I get selected I can still score goals at this level.

“Playing with these types of players I knew I was going to score even if I got a half chance.”

Southgate added that a lot can happen between now and next summer but will pick his strikers based on form and fitness.

“I think we’ve got to look every time we get together as to who is in form,” Southgate said.

“I don’t know if we can have a distinct pecking order because players that are playing well deserve the opportunity.

“If we are going to be successful, we have got to have that competition for places.

“The reality is we will always lose players to injury, we’ve never been able to field or pick a full cohort, so it’s really important that we are able to call upon the likes of Jermain and for him to have the impact he had in a game like today’s.”