Midfielder looks ahead after breaking his England duck on Friday

James Milner has expressed his delight at finally opening his goalscoring account for England.

The Manchester City midfielder scored the Three Lions’ fourth goal in Friday’s 5-0 win over Moldova as Roy Hodgson’s men got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a flier.

Milner has played a part in every international since Hodgson took charge of the national team and has become an increasingly important part of the side.

And the 26-year-old is expected to play a part in tomorrow’s clash against Ukraine at Wembley after impressing again on Friday.

He said: “If I was to never score another goal for England but we won the World Cup - and I was running around doing the not-glamorous things - I'd be delighted with that.

"The main thing is contributing - whether it is with assists or doing the job you have to do for the team. That is what I'll do and hopefully that will mean scoring more goals."

When Milner first burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old at Leeds he had a reputation as a goalscoring midfielder playing through the middle.

But although his game has since adapted and seen him turn into a wide player Milner revealed he still prefers a central role.

He added: "It is always nice scoring goals and contributing as much as you can. I think my best scoring season was at Aston Villa when I was in that more central role.

"I still think central is my best position. That is why Manchester City signed me from Aston Villa because I was playing the middle.

"It is down to the manager to pick the team and if he asks me to play wide, that is where I'll play as well as I can and perform as well as I can."

Milner has also been operating as a winger under Hodgson but believes the way the former Liverpool boss deploys his attacking players utilises his own attributes.

Milner said: "The way the manager wants us to play is very different to maybe how you sometimes play at Manchester City and how we played under the previous manager.

"The manager wants you coming in little pockets and playing in there and linking in with the strikers and midfielders and I think that probably helps as well.

“It adds more to my game than staying as wide as I can. I think you saw the other night there was a good freedom to the system.

“The other boys in the middle interchanged very well, rotation allowing them to get on the ball and wide men coming off the wing."

Tickets for the Ukraine match at Wembley on Tuesday are still on sale, and a family of four can come along for a bargain price of £60