Simpson-Daniel is looking forward to resurrecting his England career

Gloucester's James Simpson-Daniel has said he is hoping to re-launch his international career after being named in England's 32-man elite squad.

The 26-year-old, who was the Premiership's Player of the Year last season, missed the tour to New Zealand as he had surgery on a shoulder injury.

Simpson-Daniel said: "Martin Johnson's been great, he's been in touch with me before and after the operation.

"I'm looking forward to getting fit and getting on with things."

He added: "It's best not to think about it a huge amount even though I would have been disappointed if I wasn't in the squad, I'm always disappointed when there's a squad and I'm not in it."

I played a fair few matches last year, I'm confident that once I can get back from the shoulder injury I can do the same again this year James Simpson-Daniel

"I hadn't tried to get my hopes up too much because I've found in the past when I've got my hopes up generally it's bad news.

"The thing about this summer's injury was that I'd known for a while that I was going to need to get fixed.

"It's not like I've gone on a tour and picked it up while I've been out there, it's something that's been on-going, a little bit of wear and tear and we've got it fixed now.

"I played a fair few matches last year, I'm confident that once I can get back from the shoulder injury I can do the same again this year."