Bertrand hopes to catch Hodgson eye

Ryan Bertrand is hoping the faith shown in him by Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo will be matched at international level by England manager Roy Hodgson.

Having made his European debut in the Champions League final win over Bayern Munich in May, Bertrand has kept his place at the start of this season, scoring in the Community Shield and playing 90 minutes in Chelsea's opening Barclays Premier League game of the season against Wigan.

The 23-year-old played a key role in Great Britain's Olympic campaign and then received his first England call-up for last week's friendly win over Italy, and he said: "It was a fantastic experience for me to go to the Olympics and be part of the fantastic occasion that it was. It was that next step in international football."

He added: "I managed to get on the pitch for 15 minutes the other night in the senior England team so I just have to concentrate on my club football and hopefully that will come with it."

Chelsea's biggest summer signing, Eden Hazard, caught the eye at the DW Stadium on Sunday, creating the first goal for Branislav Ivanovic inside two minutes and then winning the penalty that Frank Lampard scored in the seventh minute.

Wigan enjoyed much of the play after that but Chelsea preserved their clean sheet to win 2-0 and make a perfect start to their campaign.

Bertrand said: "It's good to get back out there again and thankfully we managed to get the three points as well. We started off really well, the anticipation had built up and we just couldn't wait to get out there, and we managed to win the game there and then.

"For me personally it was great to get that start. I said at the start of the season that I wanted to increase the amount of games I played from last season so it's really positive.

"With the big-money signings there have been, to retain my place is great for me. I really appreciate it and we managed to repay the manager with a win."