ENGLAND hopeful Matt Jansen has reluctantly accepted his World Cup dream is over after being laid low by a stomach bug.

Jansen received his first full international call-up last week but any hopes of winning his first cap in England's friendly with Paraguay were later dashed when he had to pull out through illness.

Now, with just two weeks to go before Sven Goran Eriksson names his final 23 for Japan and South Korea, Jansen has accepted the fact that he has more than likely missed the boat.

But that has only made him even more determined to force his way back into the England squad next season.

"Maybe the World Cup is out of the question now but, hopefully, I'll be able to play some games in the future," said Jansen.

"I spoke to Sven both before and when I was ill and he just said 'don't worry about it, it's just bad luck.'

"He said he couldn't say whether I would be in the squad or not, I'd just have to see what happens and left it at that.

"So, hopefully, I will get another chance at some point in the future and he just told me to keep playing the way I've been playing."

Despite the set-back of having to pull out, Jansen still savoured the whole experience of rubbing shoulders with the country's finest.

And now he's had a taste of the international set-up, he's relishing the chance to sample it again when the squad reconvenes after the World Cup.

"It was a special couple of days, I was around some top quality players, and I really enjoyed the whole experience," said Jansen.

"I knew a lot of them from the Under 21s anyway but all the staff and the lads were brilliant and the training sessions went really well until the Tuesday morning when I was in bits.

"But, hopefully, another chance will come along soon."

In the meantime, Jansen is ready to put his international career on hold in a bid to fire the goals to lead Rovers to safety.

Graeme Souness's 14-goal top scorer played against Newcastle on Tuesday night, even though he had lost a stone in weight as a result of his stomach bug.

And he's ready to continue up front at Everton on Sunday where Rovers hope to banish all thoughts of relegation once and for all if Ipswich keep their own survival hopes alive by beating Manchester United tomorrow.

"I only trained for the first time on Monday and the manager just said 'if you want to play, you can play against Newcastle' so I decided to give it a go," said Jansen.

"I half expected to come off after about 60 or 70 minutes but he left me on so I was treading water towards the end.

"But it was just good to get back in action and, hopefully, I should be okay again for Sunday.

"At that point, I had lost a stone in weight but I have put some back on."