Leighton Baines says that he is delighted to have been picked in Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

The full-back suffered heartbreak when he narrowly missed out on the World Cup 2010 squad in South Africa, but believes that making the cut this time will make up for that disappointment.

"It's nice to get the call. Last time it was an initial 30-man squad and you were hanging around for a couple of weeks," Baines told reporters.

"Then you had the disappointment that comes with not making the final squad. Hopefully this call-up goes a bit to making up for that.

"Now it's just about getting through the next couple of weeks and the manager getting his points and ideas across and us taking them on board."

Baines has now played in three consecutive international games and was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year this season after his impressive performances for Everton.

However, the eight-times-capped defender realises that he faces a tough task in replacing current first-choice left-back Ashley Cole.

"Ashley is a top, top player so it would be very difficult to get into the team," he admitted.
"My job at the moment is to do the best I can and, if at any point I'm called upon, step in and do as good a job as I can.

"But at the moment, Ashley is on top of his game and it will be tough to dislodge him."