The coming club season will be extremely important for several players on the cusp of making it into the international team. The summer of 2014 will see the biggest football tournament in the world – FIFA World Cup – held in Brazil. Manchester City defender Micah Richards was spoken one of the next big things from England, but the defender has struggled to make an impression at the international level. However, he is hoping that 2014 will prove to be his year and he can make it into the England squad for the World Cup ahead of competition that includes the likes of Kyle Walker and Glen Johnson.

Richards was once linked with a £ 20 million move to Chelsea, but the impressive form of Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta has made it extremely difficult for him to get game time at City. Since making his international appearance in 2006, Richards has made 13 appearances for the England national team. He has been overlooked by former manager Fabio Capello, while the situation has not improved in the current manager Roy Hodgson as well. The 24-year-old reckons that he has a good chance of making it into the England squad if he gets regular game time at City next season.

“Hopefully next season I will be injury-free and I can show everyone what I can do. It’s a big challenge and it’s a World Cup year. Every Englishman wants to be there. I look at my competition there and, in all honesty, I don’t see players better than me. I feel I am good enough to be around that set-up. It is about being given a chance. He (Hodgson) had a hard decision to make in the summer when Johnson was playing fantastic,” said Richards, who has suffered a number of injury problems this season.