BLACKBURN Rovers' goal hero Morten Gamst Pedersen believes David Bentley should be the number one choice for England boss Fabio Capello.

Bentley produced a moment of magic to set up the Norwegian star to record his third goal in his last seven games and bring Rovers level after Dimitar Berbatov had given Spurs an early lead.

And Pedersen believes Bentley should be given an extended run on the right-hand side of the England midfield to prove his international credentials.

He said: "He's England's number one on the right hand of midfield.

"He's got good skills, he scores goals, he delivers, he's got everything, and he's got a big future in front of him.

"The way he has improved as a player in the last year has been unbelievable.

"They should give him that place and let him grow into it.

"Sometimes you have a bad day in the office, even the best players in the world have them, but he doesn't have them very often.

"He's skilful and powerful and he would definitely be my England number one."

Pedersen was ill in the week leading up to the game, and missed a couple of days' training, so he was doubly pleased to get on the scoresheet again - his fifth of the season.

But the 26-year-old star believes Rovers could have taken all three points after being denied what looked like a stonewall penalty when Gilberto upended Bentley late on.

He added: "The first half an hour we didn't play so well, I thought Spurs were fantastic.

"But after that, we got the goal and got back into the game and I think we were in control in the second half.

"We should have had a penalty but sometimes football can be harsh when you don't get the decisions."

After the weekend's results, Aston Villa are now in the box seat in the race for the Intertoto Cup, should Portsmouth win the FA Cup, but Pedersen says that Rovers can only look after their own results.

And he's confident that Rovers can again do well against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United in the next fortnight.

"We've got some tough games but good ones," he said. "It's always good to play those two. We're looking forward to them because we've done well against them in the past.

"We just have to focus on ourselves and, hopefully, come May 11, we'll be in the European places."