Despite insisting he deserved a place on England's tour of Argentina, the Wasps fly-half Danny Cipriani says he must now impress with the second-string Saxons.

Though still on reserve for the Lions tour in South Africa, the 21-year-old, who recently recovered from a serious ankle injury, was omitted by the England manager Martin Johnson despite the injured Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkinson being unavailable for selection. Even the converted centre Tom May was picked ahead of Cipriani in the No10 berth.

"I thought my form was good enough in the last part of the season," said Cipriani. "But you have to back the coach's decision and go out with the Saxons and put your marker down."

Cipriani has endured a troubled season after recovering from fracturing and dislocating his ankle but he now appears to be down to sixth in the pecking order to be England's fly-half after Flood, Wilkinson, Andy Goode, Sam Vesty and May. Earlier this week his national coach made it clear that, though he is regarded as talented, he is not thought to be "a unique talent".

"It's a massive inspiration to get up that ranking," said Cipriani. "I've got that burning desire reach the top level in rugby and represent my country again."

Wasps finished seventh in the Guinness Premiership and were disappointing in the Heineken Cup, while Cipriani was also involved in a training ground bust-up with his team-mate Josh Lewsey.

But despite missing out on the summer Test series against Argentina, Cipriani can still prove his worth when the Saxons squad defend their Churchill Cup crown in Denver, Colorado, with the first game against Argentina Jaguars on 6 June.

"It should be a successful tour. I've just got to go out and do all the things [Johnson] wants me to do," Cipriani said. "If I do all that then hopefully I can push my way into the England side and he will see that I'm ready to put on the England shirt."