JOLEON Lescott admits he cannot understand why England boss Fabio Capello continues to overlook Manchester City's rampaging right-back Micah Richards.

Richards was in superb form as City secured a 3-1 win over Newcastle at the weekend, scoring his side's second goal shortly before the break and winning the penalty that enabled Sergio Aguero to score his 11th goal of the season with 18 minutes left.

The 23-year-old has been equally impressive for the majority of the campaign, yet Capello did not even include him in his 23-man squad for last week's Wembley double-header with Spain and Sweden.

Richards won the last of his 12 senior caps against France last November, and like a majority of England supporters, Lescott is baffled by his team-mate's ongoing exile.

“He's probably the best right-back in the Premier League,” said the City centre-half. “And if he continues in the form he's in, he could probably be one of the best in the world.

“So I was disappointed for him and quite surprised. He's doing a lot going forward, but people forget how good he is defensively as well.

“I've been disappointed (not to make squads) before, so I know how he felt. He didn't say anything to me, but he didn't have to. He's a professional, and if you're not disappointed by something like that, you're doing something wrong.”

Saturday's victory maintained City's 100 per cent league record at the Etihad Stadium this season, and while Newcastle were always in the game, no one could really quibble with the final outcome.

Roberto Mancini's side face home matches against Norwich, Arsenal and Stoke before the turn of the year, but while their current form makes them appear all but unbeatable, Lescott insists they are taking nothing for granted.

“I wouldn't say we're unbeatable, but I'd say we feel very confident we can perform,” he said. “We knew this was going to be a very difficult game because Newcastle had the best defence and were unbeaten as well.

“We knew we had to be patient at times. They started off well and put us under a bit of pressure, but we knew that if we were patient enough in our play, it would come.”