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Peter Crouch expects to be left out of the England squad when it is announced on Sunday but vows he will fight to win his place back for the 2010 World Cup.
Fabio Capello is finalising his 23-man list for next week's friendly against Slovenia and the qualifier against Croatia on 9 September, when England could book their place for the finals in South Africa.
The England head coach only chooses players who are in regular action for their clubs so the timing could not be worse for Crouch as he has yet to start a Premier League game since joining Tottenham from Portsmouth for £9million in the summer.
Although the striker scored in the 5-1 Carling Cup drubbing of Doncaster on Wednesday he will probably be back on the bench against Birmingham tomorrow when Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane are likely to be back in the starting line-up.
Crouch was also ignored by Capello for this month's 2-2 draw with Holland but the 28-year-old is eager to show he deserves to add to his 34 caps.
He said: "I won't be disheartened if I'm not in the squad. I have not started the first three Premier League games.
"I have a fight on my hands for a starting place at Spurs but I know my time will come. The manager hasn't bought me just to leave me out. He believes in me and I just have to prove him right.
"I have to keep doing the business for Tottenham and if that's the case I believe I will get a call-up. Any English player playing in the Premier League at the moment has one eye on going to South Africa. Hopefully achieving something at club level will propel me forward."
Crouch has a healthy strike rate for England scoring 16 goals, including one against Croatia when Slaven Bilic's side won 3-2 at Wembley in 2007.
"Of course my ambition is to be more than part of the England squad," said Crouch. "I have been lucky enough to start games for England and always thought I have done well."
Spurs' first priority is to maintain their 100 per cent record in the League and Crouch feels they have to follow the examples set by Manchester United and Liverpool.
He added: "We have had a fantastic start but great teams like United and Liverpool have won titles because they can sustain it over the whole season. We have the ability but we must show we have the mentality too."
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is surprised by the impact Spurs midfielder Wilson Palacios has made in the Premier League, having turned down the chance to sign him 20 months ago.
The Honduras international was brought to Blues for an initial loan period by McLeish's predecessor Steve Bruce, who announced his intention to make the move permanent.
But Bruce then left the club, Palacios was allowed to return home by City after the kidnapping of his brother and McLeish felt he had not seen enough of him to sign the player when he wanted to bring in a more experienced midfielder. Palacios was reunited with Bruce at Wigan but was then sold for £14m to Spurs in January.
McLeish said: "Am I surprised at the impact Wilson has made? Absolutely. At the time, I had a couple of weeks to look at him and make my mind up.
"He had come back to Birmingham from a traumatic time regarding his brother - and subsequently he lost his brother - so it was a horrible couple of years for Wilson in private terms.
"Playing wise, we did see that he had a good touch but I came in here determined to sign some experienced midfielders. You throw the dice sometimes. I couldn't say in the training time I had with Wilson that he was going to be a £14m player."
Spurs have no fresh injury worries and are expected to recall a number of the players rested in midweek. However, injuries at Birmingham mean they could come up against one of their former players, Stephen Carr.
The defender will play at left-back if Gregory Vignal fails to overcome a hip problem.
