WHILE Sven-Goran Eriksson would have left Upton Park purring at Michael Owen's form on Saturday, Scott Parker is hoping his dominant midfield display also caught the eye of the England boss.

Eriksson has claimed that three World Cup places are still up for grabs ahead of next summer's finals in Germany.

While Ledley King has been deployed as a makeshift midfielder in recent games, the base of England's midfield remains a cause for concern.

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard rarely look comfortable without a tough-tackling player behind them and, while Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves can play in that position, there is a vacancy for a holding midfielder.

Tottenham's Michael Carrick is favourite to take the spot, but Parker's fine recent form has put him right back in the picture.

After failing to make the squad for last summer's European Championships, the 25-year-old's international career stagnated as he struggled to force his way into the Chelsea team and suffered a lengthy foot injury.

That is all in the past now, with this summer's move to St James' having reinvigorated a player who won the last of his two international caps in Sweden at the start of last year.

Eriksson witnessed Parker's renaissance at first hand at the weekend and the Lambeth-born midfielder hopes his improved form culminates in an international call-up when the England squad next meet up in March.

"Hopefully, I might get a chance," said Parker, who has represented his country at every level from Under-15s to seniors. "All I can do is keep trying to put in performances.

"I want to say the right things, but I don't know what else I can do other than play consistently and at my best. All I can do is try to keep playing well for Newcastle.

"I feel like I'm coming into my game now. I feel I'm getting fit. At the start of the season, I was running on adrenalin a bit after not playing for so long.

"Then, I went into a period where I felt a bit sluggish but, in the last few weeks, I've started to feel strong. Hopefully, that might earn me a chance. If not, that's how it goes."

Parker's improved form has coincided with a similar upturn in Newcastle's fortunes. Saturday's 4-2 win came on the back of a notable victory over Arsenal and lifted the Magpies to within three points of a European spot.

Much was made of the spirit and determination displayed in the win over the Gunners and, while last weekend's success did not contain quite the same number of crunching challenges, there was an evident passion about Newcastle's play for the second game in a row.

"We've gone back to basics a bit and decided to work hard to get results," revealed Parker. "That's what has happened in the last few weeks.

"I don't know how long we can do it for - my legs feel like they're going to fall off - but, as long as they're on, we can win these games if we're working this hard.

"If you ask anyone in the dressing room how they feel we've done this year, they'd tell you that we could have started a lot better and there's still a lot we have to do to get better.

"But we've got to 25 points now and are just one win away from really starting to push ourselves in there. Things are going well now and we've got to push on."

The last two games have certainly changed the prevailing mood on Tyneside, but things could have been very different had Aston Villa skipper Gareth Barry not missed a last-gasp penalty at the start of the month.

That miss earned the Magpies a 1-1 draw, arguably kept manager Graeme Souness in a job, and kick-started the current three-game unbeaten run. Without it, Newcastle would almost certainly have been in the midst of yet another crisis.

"I think it was the turning point for everybody," admitted Parker. "If that penalty had gone in, I think we might have been talking about a very different story in terms of where the club is.

"The manager has said it and he was right - at Newcastle, you are never too far away from praise or from criticism. You can go and win ten games on the bounce but, as soon as you lose two, you hear all about it.

"That's the price you have to pay when you come to a big club. But as long as we can keep winning, things will be good."

If Newcastle are to keep winning, they will have to triumph at Liverpool on Boxing Day without any help from Parker.

The Londoner picked up his fifth booking of the season on Saturday and will be suspended as the Magpies look to end Liverpool's run of seven Premiership games without conceding a goal.