Nathaniel Clyne feels that he is in the best form of his career and is hoping Roy Hodgson will reward him with another England call-up this week.

The national team manager watched from the KC Stadium stands on Saturday, as the Saints right-back produced the latest in a long series of impressive performances, helping his team to a 1-0 win.

“That was a surprise to me,” said Clyne, when told of Hodgson’s presence after the game.

“Hopefully I’ve done enough to get a call-up.”

The 23-year-old made it into the last England squad, for the Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia, but did not get onto the pitch.

Clyne, who was a regular for the under-21 side, is hoping he can finally get a taste of the action when Hodgson’s men host Slovenia in another qualifier, on Saturday, November 15, before travelling to Scotland three days later for a friendly.

He will find out this Thursday if he has made it into the squad, along with England regular Fraser Forster, who is a certainty to be picked, and left-back Ryan Bertrand, who must surely be under consideration given his brilliant form.

“It’s always good to play for your country,” said Clyne.

“If you play well, you get picked up, like last time when I got called up. Hopefully I can get called up again and can get my first cap.”

He added: “I think I’ve got the ability to play in the squad, for my country, and I’m showing it every week.

“The team is doing well and hopefully I can get the call up next time.”

Clyne has proved a superb acquisition for Saints, ever since arriving in the summer of 2012, but he seems to have taken his game to new heights this season.

He agrees that he is currently in the best form of his career.

“Yeah, definitely. I feel fit, I feel strong, I’m getting a lot of game time and I’m enjoying it,” he said.

“I’m playing with lots of confidence. The players that I play with, we’re performing well and hopefully we can continue.”

Not only is Clyne part of a side that are second in the Premier League, he is also a key component of what is currently the best defensive team in England, with Saturday’s clean sheet representing Saints’ sixth of the Premier League season.

“We’re happy,” said Clyne “We work hard on our defensive shape in training and it shows during the games. We’re solid, we’re tough to beat.

“I think they only had one shot at goal and it’s good. Hopefully it continues.

“If you keep a clean sheet you’ve always got a chance of winning the game, or getting a result that we need, so we’re just going to continue defending solidly and nicking goals as well.”