Dean Ashton spoke to talkSPORT to share the experience of being called up to the England international football team, revealing that it was a much colder atmosphere than he would ever have expected.

Ashton, 32, won one cap for the Three Lions in 2008, having been injured in training in 2006 to miss out on making his debut back earlier in his career.

The striker was called up further times without appearing due to ongoing injury problems, although Ashton has admitted being named in the England squad did not match the expectations he had formed about the experience.

In an interview with Kick Off, the former Norwich and West Ham star has revealed the nature of England’s ‘Golden Generation’, with team-based cliques dominating national get-togethers.

He said: “I was warned beforehand that it [the squad] could be a bit cliquey – with the Liverpool boys sticking together, Manchester United, Chelsea – and it very much was like that.

“There was very much a feeling of when you first go into a classroom and no one really wants to talk to you.

“I mean, I was there for a few days, and there were some senior players that didn’t speak to me for the whole time I was there, which I just found as totally bizarre.

“They were senior players such as Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney; David Beckham was very quiet.

“I just thought the experience would be different, but it wasn’t. It was very cold in the way I got into the squad, and it was lucky that there were other players from the Under-21s, because it’s like the newbies all sit together.”

For all Ashton’s criticisms, he has revealed one player did all he could to ease him into the England camp – former skipper John Terry.

The Chelsea man had only just been named captain when Ashton won his first call-up, and the striker believes he acted in a ‘class’ manner to aid the Three Lions newbie.

Ashton continued: “What I was surprised about, was that he [Terry] actually text me the night before and just said ‘fantastic to see you’re in the squad’. Then he actually came and met me at reception, when I first got there, which I just thought was class. That’s what a captain of England, you’d think, would do.”