Jensen retains World Cup hope

Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen has not yet given up on his final shot of playing at the World Cup having been drafted into the national squad for the qualifier against Portugal.

Last Updated: 01/12/09 at 11:46   

Brian Jensen - hopes to force his way in.

Brian Jensen - hopes to force his way in.

Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen has not yet given up on his one final shot of playing at the World Cup.

The Dane was drafted into the national squad in September for the World Cup qualifier at home to Portugal but has yet to feature for his country.

That call-up was purely as cover as suspension had ruled out Stoke's Thomas Sorensen but the 34-year-old has been encouraged by the recognition and is determined to fight for a chance to go to South Africa this summer.

"When Denmark played Portugal I was on standby over there for the other two goalkeepers in case anything happened because Thomas Sorensen was suspended," he said.

"I was basically cover but since then I hadn't really heard anything.

"At least now they have told me the door is open - but the only thing I'm thinking about is doing my best for Burnley.

"Hopefully that will be good enough, but it's not for me to say, it's down to the Danish manager (Morten Olsen).

"At the moment I'm probably fifth choice from his point of view, but hopefully I can fight my way into the squad.

"It will be my last chance, but fingers crossed I will do enough at the end of the season. Only time will tell."

Jensen has had some mixed performances this season, ranging from is man-of-the-match display in the home victory over Manchester United - which include a Michael Carrick penalty save - to dropping a clanger in the 3-1 defeat to Wigan last month.

He was injured in the incident which led to the Latics' first goal and was substituted with an ankle problem after just 15 minutes.

But he quickly recovered to retain his place as manager Owen Coyle's number one and, thanks to pain-killing injections, has been able to keep up his record of playing in every one of the Clarets' matches this season.

Much has been made of the football Coyle's side have played both this season and last but Jensen has also played a key part in goal and he is determined to help the club retain Barclays Premier League status.

"We played 61 games last season and I didn't have any injuries, just a few niggles," he said.

"Being in the Premier League you don't want to miss any of the action so hopefully I won't have any more this season and I can get stronger to make sure we get a good chance in the Premier League.

"I know what we are capable of, we are playing up to our very best, but that's what we need to do or we'll be punished.

"We know we have a chance and everybody in the squad has always believed that and I am not overly surprised we have 16 points from 12 matches.

"We can only look up and hopefully we can get some more points on the board to make sure we establish ourselves in this league."

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arry - never said they had their hands in the FA's pockets, and I agree when we were the top team, we had more decisions than everyone. I just think that with Webb and Mike Riley, the level of decisions in your favour (penalties wise) is massive.Surely you can see that.

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hough maybe I'm not qualified to comment, because anyone who can look at the Adam Johnson 'penalty' and slice, dice and analyse it to within an inch of it's life and come up with any conclusion other than he blatantly cheated and simulated a foul must be viewing the world differently than I do.

utd99
Webb Did United More Harm Than Good...

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he FA should charge Dalglish with bringing the game into disrepute. He's effectively challenged their ruling on the Suarez-Evra case (yet again). It's about time the FA took a tough stance with him.

reddevil83
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