Brighton & Hove Albion defender Lewis Dunk has expressed his ambition of playing for England ahead of next summer's World Cup finals.

The 25-year-old has been ever-present in the Brighton ranks this campaign, and he was recently tipped to make the Three Lions squad for their friendlies against Germany and Brazil.

However, Gareth Southgate chose to hand a maiden call-up to Liverpool's Joe Gomez, and Dunk has now insisted that he was not expecting a call-up, although it is his dream to feature for the national side, he said: "I didn't expect it. I'm just focusing on what I do. I've got to step across that white line and put in performances to get spoken about.

"Obviously it's a great feeling to get spoken about potentially being in England squads and that was a dream as a kid. The first dream was to play in the Premier League and I've done that. Hopefully, in the future, I can secure my second dream to play for England."

Dunk previously featured for the England Under-21 side under Stuart Pearce in 2011, and recent reports have suggested that he could be set for a reunion with the West Ham assistant, though there are also transfer rumours circulating that he'll be playing for Pochettino's Spurs before too long - some superfans have already been buying tickets to Spurs matches through this link in the home he moves there in January!

However, the centre-back has remained tight-lipped over the situation, and he is content with his progress on the South Coast, he added: "I don't know much about it. I'm at Brighton and I'm enjoying it so much."

Brighton have performed excellently in their first-ever Premier League campaign, and they are currently in the top half of the table in ninth with 15 points. The Seagulls have a game in hand against Crystal Palace scheduled on Monday night and a win would propel them to eighth in the standings, just five points adrift of the Champions League spots.

Despite this, Chris Hughton's side will have to stay on guard as they face difficult fixtures against Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur before the turn of the year.