England Head Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is likely to hand Defoe his third cap in Wednesday's friendly with Ukraine at St James' Park.

The Spurs striker knows Wayne Rooney may not be fit for the opening two qualifiers because of the broken foot he suffered at Euro 2004, and that he must aim to fill the Everton star's boots.

Defoe confessed: "Ian Wright was someone I always looked up to when I was growing up. As a forward you have to be confident and believe in yourself kike he did.

"I trained with Ian when we were at West Ham. I used to stay behind after training when I was 16 and do some finishing with him."

Defoe added: "Wayne is a great player, and still young. What he did in the tournament during the summer was unbelievable. I'm young too, and still learning and I have to try and follow in his footsteps.

"This is a massive year for me and I'm looking forward to it. I'm certainly more excited than I have been. I'm at a new club and I'm involved with England.

"I think I have improved as a player and learned a lot from working under David Pleat and now Jacques Santini."

But Defoe is acutely aware that he has to learn to play with more restraint if he is to continue his progression. And he said: "I am trying to not get booked as much as I have. I missed too many games when I was at West Ham.

"I am trying to calm down and not get too involved in things. I was sent off three times at West Ham and missed 13 games. It was out of character and it was horrible not being able to play.

"I have learned from that and hopefully it won't happen again."