Burnley striker Andre Gray dreams of England call-up

Burnley striker Andre Gray admits a lot of hard work must go into making his dream of an England call-up a reality.

Ahead of Burnley's Super Sunday clash at Liverpool, live on Sky Sports 1 HD, Gray has been touted for a place in Gareth Southgate's England squad for matches against Germany and Lithuania later this month.

Earlier in the week, Burnley boss Sean Dyche urged Gray to replicate the exploits of Tottenham striker Harry Kane in order to force his way into the England reckoning.

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Gray concedes that he's some way off Kane, but says recent call-ups for team-mates Tom Heaton and Michael Keane has given him belief.

"It's always been a dream of mine," Gray told Sky Sports exclusively. "There's a lot of work to do to get to that and a lot of competition.

"Someone mentioned I'm fighting for a place with the likes of Kane so it's a lot to live up to. I've got keep working hard, keep my head down and keep working hard.

"It's a bit surreal seeing that going around but that's just what I think personally. I try not to let those things distract me and just keep doing what I'm doing. Hopefully then it will come.

"[Heaton and Keane] have set the example. Heats was in the team when we were in the Championship so that says a lot.

"The boys are getting a chance as long as they are performing on the pitch. Keano's shown that now and I think he's took a lot of confidence from that and he's getting better and better with each game. It just shows it's possible."

Only four English players can better Gray's tally of eight Premier League goals this season, with Kane leading the way on 19 ahead of Jermain Defoe (14), Dele Alli (13) and Troy Deeney (9).

Gray is joined by Theo Walcott and Michail Antonio on eight strikes, while he is one clear of Adam Lallana and Jamie Vardy.

A place in the England squad for the Burnley forward would cap off a rise up the footballing ranks of Vardy-esque proportions, with the 25-year-old playing non-league football for Luton Town just three years ago.

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It has been five years since Gray tweeted out a series of homophobic posts during his time at Hinckley United, but the story only came to light earlier this season following his match-winning performance against Liverpool in August - and the striker was consequently fined by the FA and handed a four-match ban.

Gray has since apologised for the incident, insisting he is not homophobic and making clear that a lot has changed in his life over the past five years.

"It was bittersweet [against Liverpool]. It was a great day because scoring my first goal and winning against Liverpool was a massive thing for us. But coming off the pitch and seeing them [the tweets] took me back a bit," Gray said.

"It was pretty hard to deal with, especially knowing the type of person you are now. To have to read back about those things, it was a difficult time.

"It's another lesson learnt. It's hard to put into words. A lot has changed for me in my life in general so knowing I had to look back on it and be reminded of it, it was a weird feeling.

"It was quite interesting. A lot got said and a lot of different views got put across. It was interesting to see someone else's perspective of it. I know a lot of people were offended by it and I knew my wrongs.

"I did that a long time ago. It just reinforced that little bit more about things I still need to learn from. I've had to learn from my own mistakes and that's how I've got through life, teaching myself. It's easy for me now to help younger people to see that side of it when I didn't.

"A lot of people that know me now will know I'm not that kind of person. I've met a lot of homosexual people, who know what kind of person I am now. People that haven't spoken to me will still have that view of me but the people that do know me know that's not the person I represent."