Matthew Upson may have had a watching brief at Wembley on Wednesday but told WHUTV he still feels he ended the season in a positive manner.
Upson, along with fellow West Ham United players Robert Green and Carlton Cole, joined up with the rest of Fabio Capello's squad after the final game of the domestic season to prepare for two FIFA World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Andorra.
After a composed performance during England's 4-0 win in Almaty on Saturday, Upson made way for Joleon Lescott as Capello chose to shuffle his pack for the midweek visit of Andorra. The 6-0 success leaves England just needing another victory from their last three games to book their place at the World Cup in South Africa next summer.
"The Kazakhstan game was difficult so it was a good game to play in," he told WHUTV. "I thought we played vey well in the end and got a good result.
"[Against Andorra] the manager wanted to mix it up and change the team so he did that and it is something you have to accept. Obviously I wanted to play but he decided to change it."
Upson's impressive performances for the Hammers this season appear to have cemented his position in the England manager's plans and despite featuring in all but one of West Ham's Premier League games, the 30-year-old was still excited about joining up with his national team-mates.
"I really enjoyed it. It's always difficult being away at the end of the season. You finish the Premier League and you mentally want to switch off, but the training and the work here has been excellent and that has been reflected in the results," he said.
Upson can now go away on a well deserved break to rest his weary body, before his mind will once again start to shift towards thinking about getting himself in shape for pre-season.
"I'll have at least two weeks doing nothing, where I'll go on holiday and have a nice time and then start to get back into it. We've got a fitness programme to start probably two weeks before I go back to gently tick over and make sure I go back in good enough shape to start training."
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