CHERRIES midfielder Lewis Cook says it will always be his ambition to add to his one England cap, but believes the best route to a call-up is by focusing on his club form.

After the appointment of Andoni Iraola in the summer as Cherries head coach, Cook has become a key cog in the heart of AFC Bournemouth’s midfield.

The former Leeds United man made 33 appearances in the Premier League, setting up three goals for his teammates during the 2023/24 season.

The 27-year-old’s ability to break up play and help Cherries get up the pitch with his range of passing has not gone unnoticed by supporters, but apparently has been missed by those outside of Dorset.

Earlier this week Gareth Southgate named a 33-man preliminary squad for this summer’s Euros in Germany, with no Cherries players selected.

Cherries’ talismanic striker Dominic Solanke is arguably the biggest snub, the forward ignored despite scoring 19 goals in the Premier League this season, but Cook perhaps has grounds to feel aggrieved.

In midfield, Southgate has opted to select the uncapped Adam Wharton and Curtis Jones, from Crystal Palace and Liverpool respectively.

Wharton only made his Premier League debut earlier in 2024, making 16 appearances since February following his move to Crystal Palace from Championship Blackburn Rovers.

Southgate handed Cook his England debut in March 2018, in a friendly against Italy at Wembley.

Asked about his England hopes before the squad was announced, Cook told the Daily Echo: “Dom's had an amazing season. I think if I scored 19 goals this year I probably would be in the question!

“I've always said just take care of your club form and you never know.

“But I think it should be everyone's ambition, playing in the Premier League if you're English, to try and get in that team.”

With no international duty this summer, Cook’s final game for some time came in Cherries’ 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the weekend.

Disappointed to have lost out at Stamford Bridge, Cook felt that Cherries now head into games against teams higher up the league table knowing they can cause an upset and get a result.

He restarted: “I feel like we go into most games now thinking we can get a result, either that being a point or three.

“They're a great team, they've got some great individual players, but I feel like we could match them.

“And I thought we did, but we probably didn't take as many chances as we could.

“So things to learn from for next season. But overall I'd say it's been a great season.”