Foster announced last week that he was taking a break from the international game to stay as fit as possible for Birmingham after a season of injury niggles. However, Foster has been a virtual ever-present for Blues this season and Martyn insists there is "no difference" in Foster training with his club, or his country. He told TEAMtalk: "If he has a problem I'm sure the England medical staff would be on hand to help him get through that. "How many times do England get together in a season? Maybe 10, so any injury could be managed in exactly the same way. If he's not playing then he could do the odd day of light training and be there if needed. "Unless he's given complete time off (at Birmingham) to rest any injury he gets then there is no difference. "Even if he hasn't got a game for 10 days, he could only rest for a week and then start to build up again, and you're not going to get a lot of healing done in a week. "But he may be getting advice from a professional who actually says 'take any rest when you can get it' and I think from the outside we have to trust that is the case. "I don't think for one minute he doesn't want to travel or be involved with England. I can't see anybody wanting to turn their back on wanting to play for their country. It's the pinnacle and is such an honour." Foster was the clear second choice goalkeeper behind Joe Hart for England before taking the decision to take a step back, and Martyn accepts Fabio Capello has a problem in that area now. He said: "Joe Hart is established as number one and is playing tremendously well but beyond that it's starting to look a bit thin with Ben pulling out and Paul Robinson also not being there. "There's Rob Green, but it's difficult if you're not playing in the Premier League to be considered (by England) so it's definitely not as healthy as it has been in recent seasons. "But if Ben decides to change his mind and Paul decides to change his mind then it becomes stronger. "I think Paul felt really disappointed and let down by how he lost his place. Obviously his form wasn't as good as it is at the moment but he probably felt he needed a little bit more loyalty from the management. "But I think Paul's time might come again if there's a change in the England management. If somebody new comes in and says 'I quite like him', there's an opportunity for him then." While Robinson quit international football because of his lack of chances, Martyn insists it was never something he considered despite his long spell as back-up to David Seaman. He added: "I had 10 years of trying to be England's number one and sitting on the bench. In 10 years I must have turned up to close to 100 squads and I got 23 caps and it's immensely frustrating not to be playing because that's what you want to do. "It's tough to be away from your family for long periods of time but you've got to come through that and hope your time comes. "There was an enquiry whether I wanted to go back as number three goalkeeper for the European Championships in 2004 but to go and spend what was my time off at 38 was a bit different to when you're 28 and in your prime. "I never turned my back on playing for England." Nigel Martyn is an ambassador for grassroots youth football competition the Tesco Cup, for more information go to www.tesco.com/football
