Ryan Bertrand has revealed his frustration at missing out on an England call, admitting he doesn’t know what more he has to do to get into Roy Hodgson’s squad.

The left-back has been sensational since joining Saints on-loan from Chelsea in the summer, and believes he has done enough to warrant a place in the national team.

Bertrand was, therefore, bitterly disappointed to be overlooked by England manager Hodgson for Saturday’s Euro 2016 home qualifier against Slovenia and next week’s friendly away to Scotland.

“Yeah, very. I’ve started very well this season, we’re second in the league, so I don’t know what the criteria is to get in there at the minute,” the 25-year-old told the Daily Echo.

Asked if he still feels he can break into the squad this season, Bertrand said: “Definitely. I feel like I should have achieved that already, so hopefully it will come.”

Bertrand has been capped twice for the senior England team during his career, making late substitute appearances in a friendly against Italy and a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, both under Hodgson, in 2012.

However, despite Bertrand’s outstanding form this season, the England boss has opted to leave him out and stick with Everton’s Leighton Baines, Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs and Manchester United’s Luke Shaw – the man Bertrand replaced at St Mary’s – as his left-back options.

Bertrand certainly feels his chance should have come already, but he is hoping it will eventually arrive if he keeps his performance level up.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “That’s what I thought. But, at the end of the day, it’s not down to me.”

Despite the disappointment of missing out, though, Bertrand intends to use his time over the next two weeks in a positive fashion.

“It’s a chance for those of us who are left out, like me, to work on things and come back flying again,” he said.

Bertrand can also ease the pain of his international snub by reflecting on what has been a wonderful season so far for his new club.

Saints head into this latest break second in the table, with a four-point gap to third, following Saturday’s 2-0 win over Leicester.

“It’s good, it’s very good, especially before the international break, to get a win, so that’s the most important thing, is to make sure we win,” said Bertrand.

“Now we’ll have a little break and come back and do the same.”

Saints had to be patient at the weekend, with 75 minutes going by before they finally broke the resistance of Leicester.

Bertrand believes it is becoming a familiar sight at St Mary’s, to see the opposition putting so much emphasis on defending.

“It was another game we were fully in control of, but they defended really well, Leicester, for a good majority of the game,” he said.

“It’s making a bit of a trend, when teams come in (to St Mary’s) and are shutting up shop and defending really well, so the onus is on us to create something and break the deadlock.

“It’s a compliment in a way, but very frustrating in another sense, you know. But it’s credit to the boys that we managed to do it.”