Given Harry Redknapp’s outspoken criticism of England’s performance against the Czech Republic at Wembley in August, it seems unlikely that Fabio Capello has called the Portsmouth manager to ask for his opinion of Peter Crouch, but the striker felt moved yesterday to credit Redknapp for his international recall.

Crouch has gained a new lease of life since returning for a second spell with the South Coast club during the summer and has benefited from a sustained run in the side to shrug off a slow start by scoring four goals in their past three matches.

The 27-year-old’s inclusion in the England squad has vindicated his decision to leave Liverpool for a lesser club, in much the same way as Shaun Wright-Phillips has gained from returning to Manchester City. Crucially for all the fringe players who have been overlooked on this occasion, such as David Bentley, of Tottenham Hotspur, it also shows that Capello is prepared to pick on form.

“We’ve got good forwards in England now and I’m just pleased to be back in,” Crouch said. “Much of it is down to Harry. I said from the start upon re-signing for Portsmouth that I’ve played for Harry before and I felt he got the best out of me. I believe that until the end of the season he will get the best out of me.

“He builds up players’ confidence, telling you every day you can be a world-beater and, eventually, you start to believe it. Harry is an honest fellow. If you’re crap he’ll tell you as well. I think it’s nice to know if you need to pull your finger out, and he’ll let you know.”

Crouch is in the squad to provide back-up to Emile Heskey, who was booked against Croatia last month and will be suspended for next Wednesday’s trip to Belarus if he collects another yellow card against Kazakhstan on Saturday. His international strike-rate is vastly superior to that of the Wigan Athletic striker — 14 goals in 28 appearances, of which he has started only half, as opposed to five in 48 for Heskey — and he is hoping for a run-out alongside Jermain Defoe, his Portsmouth team-mate, although perhaps he should not hold his breath.

“It helps [that] we play together,” Crouch said of Defoe. “If we spend any time on the pitch for England, we’ll slip straight into the way we play at Portsmouth. We know each other’s game as I’ve played with him since the under-21s. You can see in other partnerships that the strikers maybe play their own way, but we set each other up and play together.”