Former Man of Steel Mikey Lewis insists he earned his England World Cup place.

The Hull KR star was selected by coach Brian McDermott as one of three half-backs for the tournament in Australia, alongside Warrington Wolves’ George Williams and Harry Smith of Wigan Warriors. Leeds Rhinos play-maker Jake Connor was not chosen, despite having the most goals, points and assists in Super League this year.

Lewis didn’t play in England’s opening defeat to Tonga, but scored two tries as a substitute against France last week and will be on the bench again for Friday’s showdown with Papua New Guinea. “The way my year went wasn’t the best,” Lewis admitted in an online press conference today (Wednesday).

“I know that, I don’t need to be told how I went this year. I feel I have earned my spot on my recent years’ performances playing for England. I knew from the conversation I had with Brian I wasn’t going to play the first game.

Mikey Lewis scores for England in last week's 82-0 win against France. Picture by Anita Reca/SWpix.com.

placeholder image — Mikey Lewis scores for England in last week's 82-0 win against France. Picture by Anita Reca/SWpix.com.

“I fully understand where he was coming from, but I am a team player and I assured him if I’m not in the playing squad I am going to make sure the lads are fully prepared for the week ahead.”

England’s 82-0 thrashing of France kept them in the hunt for semi-final qualification, but they need to rack up a big score against PNG and hope Samoa lose by a large margin to Tonga on Sunday. Outlining England’s approach, Lewis insisted: “We’ll just go out and do what we’ve planned to do and do it really well.

“It’s going to be a really tough game, but we have got the strike and desire and commitment to get this job done. We are in with a fighting chance, we believe we can go out and achieve anything we want. We have just got to put the hard work in like we did last week and see where it takes us.

England coach Brian McDermott, pictured, has named Mikey Lewis among his substitutes for Friday's game against Papua New Guinea. Picture by Anita Reca/SWpix.com.

“There will be times when we have to defend our line, it is an international game so it’s going to be intense and it’s going to hurt at times. We have to express ourselves, but be really disciplined with that. I feel like last week we got a really good balance and it has got to be the same this week.”

An England win will leave them facing an anxious wait for Samoa’s result two days later. If England and Tonga both finish with two victories, the latter will go through to the last four because of the outcome when they met earlier in the tournament.

That means England’s only hope is to pip Samoa - who are currently 68 ahead - on points difference. Of whether he believes Tonga can beat Samoa, who have won their opening two matches, Lewis said: “I hope so.

“They have got a fantastic squad, but it is all about us. We have got to get the job done on Friday and put that pressure on. We have to do the business and see where it takes us.”