JAKE CONNOR says he hasn’t given up hope of appearing for England in this autumn’s Ashes series, despite being excluded from Shaun Wane’s training squad.

National team boss Wane named a 32-man group of Super League-based players last week with Leeds Rhinos star Connor the most notable omission.

Connor leads the Albert Goldthorpe Medal standings after a series of exceptional individual displays since joining Leeds from Huddersfield Giants ahead of this season.

But that hasn’t been enough to tempt Wane to call up Connor for the first time since taking charge of England in 2020.

The 30-year-old halfback hasn’t been capped since the 2019 Great Britain tour of the southern hemisphere, while all five of his past England appearances came the previous year.

After Leeds’ win at Super League leaders Hull KR, Connor told Sky Sports of his exclusion: “It is what it is. I don’t really know what to say.

“I’m just focusing on playing well, that’s all I can do. I don’t want to say too much on it.”

Asked if Wane had a personal issue with him, Connor replied: “I don’t know, you’d have to ask him.”

But he reiterated what it would mean to pull on the England jersey for the first time since a home series win over New Zealand seven years ago.

“I think it’s great, playing for your country,” said Connor.

“I’ve done it before and loved every minute of it. It’s the biggest stage. I thought I went well in that New Zealand series.

“But there’s some great players (in my position). You’ve got Mikey Lewis, George Williams, they’re great players. They’ve been there and done it in the big games. Hopefully I get to big games this year.

“I haven’t given up. I just want to keep playing well, that’s all I can do.”

Wane suggested that Connor was “not consistent” enough when pressed on his non-selection last week.

“I don’t know how the Man of Steel (which Connor also led before voting went ‘dark’ two weeks ago) is judged, but I do know Jake is a really good player,” said Wane.

“He played well against Leigh when there were a lot of points scored (Leeds won 48-30), but then the week before (against St Helens, when Leeds lost 18-4) and I wanted him to play well, he wasn’t on it.

“It’s not consistent, and I have to pick players who play well for three games in a row.”