Having taken the best part of a year to convince Fabio Capello, the England manager, of his international pedigree midfielder Michael Carrick maintains that he never "lost any sleep" over being omitted from the side.

Carrick is hopeful of winning his 16th cap in tonight's friendly against Spain in Seville after giving an outstanding performance in England's friendly win over Germany last November. That night in Berlin marked Carrick's return to the international fold after largely being overlooked for most of Fabio Capello's first year in charge but the Manchester United midfielder insists that he never allowed himself to fret over being left out of the England reckoning.

"It goes without saying I wanted to be in the squad but when I wasn't selected there was no point moaning and sulking about it," he said. "What was it going to change if I went around moping? I always knew that if I played consistently well for United then I would be picked.

"It was not something I was worried about. It was just a case of getting it right at United because I believed I would get back in the squad if I was playing well enough and that has been the case. I didn't lose any sleep about it because it wasn't something I could control. Now the hard part is staying there."

In addition to his star turn in Germany, Carrick's consistent performances for United have won over Capello, who has been impressed by the former Tottenham player's passing skills and refusal to give away possession. However, by his own admission the 27-year-old recognises that there are certain areas in which his game needs to improve – not least in front of goal.

So far Carrick has been twice on target this season, the last goal coming at the start of United's record run of 13 clean sheets against Stoke. But as with the England situation, it is not a weakness he is getting too concerned about.

"It would be nice to score more and who would say any different?" he admitted. "But I never set myself a target at the start of a season. Different games dictate how you play and you accept that. I am not really too fussed who scores as long as we win.

"I know you can point to people like [Frank] Lampard and [Steven] Gerrard but they are different players. There have been plenty of great midfield players who haven't scored goals.

"You just have to judge each individual on what they bring to the team and I am happy doing what I am doing at the moment."