Ex-Liverpool star Jermaine Pennant admitted that it was a disappointment he never got to play for England during his football career.

The Englishman played a majority of his career in the Premier League, enjoying stints with Arsenal, Birmingham City, and Stoke City. The 40-year-old most notably spent three years with Liverpool who he joined in 2006 for £6.7million. Pennant impressed in his debut season with the Merseyside club which he capped off with a Man of the Match performance in their 2-1 defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League final.

Despite his impressive performances, he failed to be called up by then-England boss, Steve McClaren, despite then-Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez publicly backing the winger. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star on behalf of NewBettingSites.uk, Pennant admitted he felt aggrieved that he's the only Englishman to play in a Champions League final without ever playing for his country.

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"A little bit, yes," he said when asked if it hurt that he never earned a cap for England. "It was one of my dreams to achieve a senior cap. I did it for U21 and all the way down but not a senior level. As you said, to play a Champions League final – and get the Man of the Match as well – I thought ‘Yeah, this will definitely happen now’.

"When it didn’t, it felt like a kick in the teeth but at the same time I only had myself to blame because of my off the field incidents during my career". The Nottingham-born man had his fair share of controversies away from football having been arrested twice for drink-driving during his career.

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Pennant played in an era where England's crop of players at the time were being billed as a 'Golden Generation' with the likes of Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Frank Lampard and more starring for their country as he admitted he believes if he were to play in today's game, he'd certainly play for his country. "If it had been I think it would have been different. Now, I think they hand out caps very freely – I was just in the wrong era," he said.

Jermaine Pennant was speaking to Daily Star on behalf of NewBettingSites.uk

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