Some footballers shrug their shoulders and assume slightly bored expressions when the word “England” is mentioned. Others come over all self-deprecating but Lee Cattermole is different.

Sunderland’s midfield enforcer does not do pretence and has no interest in artifice so he is not about to downplay his chances of gatecrashing Roy Hodgson’s squad and playing in the 2016 European Championship.

“Getting into the squad has become a goal for me,” says one of Gus Poyet’s consistently outstanding performers. “It would mean an awful lot to me to get a call-up.

“The wider perception is that players don’t care but a lot of the time, it’s just trying to be cool around each other, not letting on how much you really do care. Every English player would be lying if they said they were not looking to play for England.”

Poyet has said that Cattermole would be an automatic selection were the Uruguayan in Hodgson’s job but the 26-year-old former Middlesbrough and Wigan midfielder suffers from an image problem. It centres on the eight red cards he has collected during a career also strewn with yellow ones.

Seven sendings-off have come in the Premier League – in the division’s history only Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson (both eight) have accrued more while Cattermole is currently on a par with Roy Keane – but this unreliable disciplinary record is slightly misleading.

He has not been sent off since last autumn – indeed, he was dismissed only once in each of the past three seasons – and credits Poyet’s installation as Sunderland manager as a watershed, prompting the reinvention of his game.

The Uruguayan has helped him adopt a much more controlled approach featuring Cattermole going to ground far less frequently while showing off some long underrated passing skills from his new station just in front of the defence. In the north-east there was widespread surprise that Newcastle United’s Jack Colback was picked ahead of his former team-mate for the last squad.

“In recent years England was not something for me to be too interested in because of the names that were playing, the Gerrards and Lampards,” acknowledges Cattermole. “But you see the lads getting opportunities now and that has got to be a motivation for me. It’s something I’m trying to achieve.

“England is going through a cycle of change right now. It’s a great opportunity for the lads who are in there but also for those who are looking to get there – lads like Tom Huddlestone, Mark Noble and myself.”

After representing England at all levels up to and including the Under-21s, he hopes he is now in the right place at the right time to win his first senior cap. “I finished last season strongly and have felt great all pre-season so I’m in a good place,” says Cattermole. “Since the new manager’s come in I’ve adapted my game to what he wants and that is a defensive midfielder, pure and simple. I’ve learnt an unbelievable amount. I’ve felt my game improving and I’m very comfortable with it.

“I feel I’m not having to try as hard on the pitch and that helps. The lads are more settled because they know what the manager wants from each individual. That’s a big thing for me and I’m very focused every week now. I’ve had a few ups and downs but I’ve listened to everything Gus Poyet says.”

England managers are notoriously reluctant to undertake north-eastern scouting missions but Cattermole believes Hodgson could be missing out if he continues to avoid visiting the Stadium of Light. “We’ve got a few English players here – Jack Rodwell, Adam Johnson, Connor Wickham and me – and I’d like to think Roy Hodgson will come up here to watch us,” he says. “But it’s up to us all to play well for Sunderland and raise a few eyebrows.”