Manchester United legend Paul Scholes insists his early retirement from England had nothing to do with club commitments.
He recalled in the London Evening Standard: "I get asked whether I would like to have reached the century of caps that have been accumulated recently by David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and now Wayne Rooney.
"My point is always simple: I didn't think I was playing well enough to stay in the England team. For some reason, Sven-Goran Eriksson kept picking me. I was grateful for his loyalty but on my performances around 2004 I should have been left out.
"It's really not the numbers which matter so much. What matters is the quality of your play and by the end of my England career, which came after Euro 2004, I felt that I had slipped too far. I did not warrant being in the team. I found that if my form slipped for Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson would leave me out and that often gave me the time and space to sort myself out.
"With England, I felt I could not rediscover my old form."
