Northampton Saints' Lee Dickson takes England omission 'on chin'

Lee Dickson's last England Test appearance was as a replacement against New Zealand in June

Northampton Saints scrum-half Lee Dickson believes he is in the thoughts of England head coach Stuart Lancaster.

The 29-year-old has not featured in this year's Six Nations, and the last of his 18 Test caps came last summer.

"I spoke to the England staff a couple of times. They're happy with how I'm playing - they think I'm playing very well," he told BBC Radio Northampton.

"For reasons that they have, they've gone for Ben Youngs and Richard Wigglesworth."

He added: "I have to take that on the chin and adapt and react to that."

Leicester's Youngs has started all three of England's Six Nations games so far, including Sunday's 19-9 loss to Ireland, and was replaced by Saracens' Wigglesworth each time.

Harlequins nine Danny Care is also an option, but missed his club's defeat by Northampton last week with a calf strain.

Dickson, meanwhile, has captained Saints in their last two games, helping keep Jim Mallinder's men top of the Premiership.

"I want them to do well. I'm English, I'm patriotic. And I'm desperate to get into that set-up," he said.

"All I can do is keep playing well for Saints, keep us at the top of the league and hopefully the goal will come soon."