• Prop was surprised to be named in 37-man squad • 'We have to get everything spot on to win the series'

Matt Stevens was the surprise selection in the Lions squad for the tour to Australia – the only player in the 37 who is not involved in international rugby – but he is one of four survivors from the expedition to New Zealand eight years ago, an experience he believes makes him a contender for a Test place.

The Saracens prop, who ended his England career last year so that he could focus on his club, is expected to be the third choice after Adam Jones and Dan Cole, but he intends to ensure that if the pair make the Test 23 ahead of him that they do so on form, not reputation.

"I am not here to make up the numbers," said Stevens, who has spent the week with the Lions at their training base in the Vale of Glamorgan after Saracens were beaten by Northampton in Sunday's play-off semi-final. "Everyone in the squad will have the chance to fight for a Test spot.

"I was surprised to be named in the 37, even though I was one of the players who signed a pre-contract. I knew I was in the frame and that I was good enough, but I wondered if I would be picked because I had retired from international rugby.

"I was sitting on a train going to Bath with my wife when the squad was announced. She was looking at Twitter and I was trying to pretend that I did not have a care in the world. I knew what it was like to be selected after being in the 2005 squad and it was a great feeling when I heard I was in.

"Results did not go our way eight years ago but I learned a huge amount. You have to become a united group very quickly and Warren Gatland [the head coach] started working on that from the start of the week. All the players are open to building firm connections and everyone is mucking in."

Stevens missed the Lions tour in 2009 because he was serving a two-year ban after testing positive for cocaine. He went to his native South Africa to watch the series and in the first Test in Durban found himself sitting next to the parents of the scrum-half Mike Phillips, his room-mate this week.

"I remember hugging them when Mike scored a try," he said. "That tour was very different to 2005 and this one will be again. We are going to have to get everything spot on to win the series and none of us will be underestimating Australia's front row. They did well against England last year and it will be a challenge."

Stevens retired from international rugby last summer at the age of 29, young for a prop, and he does not envisage revisiting that decision. "It was the right choice," he said. "I had just come back from injury and I did not want to be a bit-part player for England knowing I would not be around for the 2015 World Cup. It was the most difficult decision of my career and you always have second thoughts but it gave me the chance to play week-in, week-out for Saracens and make the Lions squad."