David Beckham today claimed playing for Milan has sharpened up his game and helped prolong his international career.

The midfielder, who is on loan from La Galaxy at San Siro, will pass Bobby Moore's outfield England caps record if he makes his 109th appearance against Slovakia on Saturday, and Beckham said he had benefited from his Serie A experience. "Obviously being there now gives me more of a chance to be at that higher level to play at international level, which is always important," he said.

"It's improved my fitness more than anything else. When I first arrived in Dubai with Milan my body fat was 13.7 and now it's 8.5 so I think it was more about the fitness side than anything else. But I had to adjust my game to the Italian game as well. I had to do that when I moved to Spain [Real Madrid] from Manchester United and I felt it was successful there and obviously in Milan I have enjoyed that part of it. The discipline of defending is one of the biggest things I've learnt since I've been in Milan. You have to have team discipline on the pitch."

Beckham described playing for England as one of the "biggest highlights" of his career and says every cap from now on is a "bonus".

The midfielder said he did not "look at records" but, speaking this afternoon, he made no secret of the satisfaction he gets from playing for England.

"I've been to different clubs and countries and I'm happy to have done that – it's an honour to play for the clubs and with some of the players – but this is one of biggest highlights of my career, to still be in this team on 108 caps is very special for me," said Beckham.

"I think that every time that I meet up with the team it's a bonus because being on probably 94, 95 caps, I never expected to make 100. Making 100, people expected me to retire then, so to be on 108 and hopefully get to 109, I'm happy with that."

Beckham still has some way to go to surpass Peter Shilton's 125 appearances. "I am not looking at that record at all at the moment," added the 33-year-old. "I take each game as it comes as I know how quickly it can change."