Peter Crouch has been warned a lack of first-team appearances at Liverpool this season could prove detrimental to his England aspirations.

Unlike Alan Smith, who, fearing his first-team opportunities at Manchester United would be severely restricted by the arrival of Carlos Tevez opted to join Newcastle in a £6million deal earlier this month, Crouch remains committed to the Anfield cause.

Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez has reassured Crouch he remains part of his plans but the summer arrivals of Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin will only reduce the forward's involvement over the coming months.

Already Crouch has been forced to sit out the opening day win at Aston Villa and while he was in Benitez's starting line-up for the Champions League qualifier against Toulouse, the 26-year-old has a major battle on his hands to retain his place on a regular basis.

Crouch's past record of 12 goals in 19 appearances for his country will ensure he remains in favour with England boss Steve McClaren over the next few months at least, certainly until the end of this autumn's Euro 2008 qualification campaign.

However, McClaren has admitted a lack of regular combat is not an ideal situation for any of his players to find themselves in.

And with Wayne Rooney sidelined for a couple of months, Magpies team-mate Michael Owen less than fully fit and Crouch suspended for the September 8 meeting with Israel at Wembley, Smith's name is expected to figure in McClaren's squads on a regular basis as well.

"All players want to play," said McClaren.

"Ultimately, that is what they want to do. No player should be happy just being in the squad.

"It does help when they are playing regularly for their clubs - it helps their form.

"And yes, ultimately when you are picking players for your squad, you have to take that into account."

With Rooney definitely out of England's next three games with the broken foot he sustained against Reading on Sunday, it is a relief to McClaren that Owen has started playing again.

Although he is hardly likely to be in top form for next Wednesday's friendly with Germany, by next month England's fourth highest goalscorer should be firing on all cylinders.

Yet, while accepting the loss of Rooney is a 'big blow', McClaren does not see why it should prove terminal to England's chances of reaching next summer's Finals in Austria and Switzerland.

He said: "He is an important player for England and I was disappointed to get the phone call on Sunday evening but by the following morning I had to move on.

"We had a positive summer against Albania (a B international), Brazil (a friendly) and Estonia (a qualifier) where we gave fringe players a game, and we did that without Wayne.

"We've still got Crouch, Owen may be available and there are also the likes of Smith, Darren Bent, Andy Johnson, Jermain Defoe and David Nugent, who have played for England and have proved that they can play at this level."