It is almost two years since Aaron Lennon last pulled on an England shirt, yet an international career that had appeared to have terminally stalled could now be revived. Fabio Capello has watched the Tottenham winger's last two games in which he has excelled, terrorising Patrice Evra at Wembley in the Carling Cup final and tormenting Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane, to leave the national coach pondering a recall.
England have options on the right of midfield, not least with Theo Walcott nearing a return after a shoulder injury and Shaun Wright-Phillips more assured of late, yet Lennon can no longer be ignored. "I don't see why he shouldn't be in the squad," said Robbie Keane after the rout of Boro. "There are no other English wingers in the Premier League that can come on and change a game and beat people with the pace he has."
That once might have been construed as a criticism. Lennon became a feature for the national side during the final few months of Sven-Goran Eriksson's reign, his first year at Spurs after a £1m move from Leeds ending with cameos at the World Cup finals when he was given an opportunity to run at tiring full-backs. Yet, while his game offered pace, there was little accuracy in his delivery, a flaw that appeared to anchor his progression. Steve McClaren used him at first but once momentum had drained from England's qualification campaign for Euro 2008, so the manager's faith waned.
His last international appearance came in the ignominious defeat of Andorra – an inglorious and distinctly flattering victory that was only secured late – back in March 2007. Last summer the talk was that Lennon's position, even in the Spurs side, was under threat from the recently signed David Bentley. Some seven months on and the 21-year-old's game is progressing once more to the extent that it is Bentley who has been rendered peripheral. Lennon, in contrast, can anticipate a pay rise to hoist him up into the second bracket of earners at Tottenham.
His performance in the Carling Cup final was impressive but lacking a finish, yet the goals were delivered, clinically, against Boro. "He's been brilliant," added Keane. "Since I came back [from Liverpool] I've seen a more mature player in Aaron. He's only going to get better with age. Plus we are a team that's starting to win and growing in confidence. That will help him further. He was terrific against United – I don't think Evra has ever had a test like that – and he took his two goals superbly against Boro. He's a big player for us who is maturing."
Lennon said: "This is the best run of form I'm been in since I came here, definitely, in terms of my all-round performances. I'm the fittest I've been and I think I'm playing the best I've ever played. I think it's down to playing in loads of games really. I got a full pre-season, which I hadn't had since I've been here, and I think that's helped me loads, and I've just kicked on. I'm starting to read the game a lot better. I know what defenders are trying to do, whereas last year people were doubling up on me and I wasn't too sure how to react. I'm learning the game a lot more now
"I'm concentrating on trying to keep Spurs up but, of course, I'd love to get back in the national set-up. I've been out a while now and I've missed it. But I'm still improving. I'm 21, still learning, and I'm trying to get different advice from different players. [Manager] Harry [Redknapp] is giving me a lot of confidence and encouraging people to give me the ball, and that's helped as well."
Capello's penchant for selecting players who are in form will offer Lennon hope of a recall for the friendly against Slovakia later this month, followed by the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.
For now, though, Lennon's priority remains Tottenham. "The start we had to the season killed us," he added. "But we're now only four points off eighth. If we could get up to seventh it would be unbelievable, though the priority remains to stay in this league."
