‘‘A month ago I would have been a little more confident than I am now, but unfortunately my form has gone into a little bit of a dip,’’ he said.

Sheringham celebrates his 36th birthday next month but he does not believe his age combined with the fact that he starts almost all Tottenham’s matches - and is rarely substituted - is a factor.

‘‘I hope to regain my form. Thirty-five years and 11 months isn’t any worse than 35 and 10 months. I hope I will get it back and be involved in the World Cup finals. That is what every player wants.’’

Sven-Goran Eriksson left him out of the last England squad for the friendly with Holland in order to experiment, and Sheringham said: ‘‘He phoned me and told me he wanted to try a few things out.’’

But he will be anxiously awaiting the announcement of Eriksson’s next squad.

‘‘The closer we get to the finals the more idea you will get of how the squad will take shape.

‘‘In the end it isn’t my opinion that counts. All I can do is play to the best of my ability,’’ he said.

Sheringham’s Tottenham strike partner Les Ferdinand criticised Chelsea’s Graeme Le Saux, who was sent off in Chelsea’s 4-0 FA Cup victory at White Hart Lane on Sunday claiming: ‘‘His temperament has been suspect throughout his career if we are honest.’’

With Eriksson watching the match, Ferdinand suggested that Le Saux has put a question mark over his World Cup ambitions - but Sheringham disagreed that the Chelsea left-back might have wrecked his chances.

‘‘I don’t think it will have that much effect. It was one of those games that could have seen a number of sendings-off.

‘‘I don’t think it was a slur on his character that he got sent off. He had a very good game,’’ said Sheringham, as he launched TEAMtalk 252, the new 24-hour seven-day radio station in London today.

Two of Tottenham’s possible routes into Europe next season have been closed with the defeat by Blackburn in the Worthington Cup Final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and the drubbing by Chelsea - but they are still pursuing a high enough Premiership finish to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

‘‘There are still 30 points to play for this season, and we will be giving it our all to do that.

‘‘As long as we have a good end to the season it will still be seen as a good start to Glenn Hoddle’s managerial career at Tottenham,’’ said Sheringham, who is tipping his former club Manchester United to retain the championship by fighting off the sustained challenge of Arsenal and Liverpool.

‘‘I think they are the best team; they pass the ball and work for each other.

‘‘When the pressure is on I think Manchester United have the edge, but it’s good for the game that a couple of other teams are involved this season,’’ he added.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to postpone his retirement and stay on as manager at Old Trafford came as no surprise to Sheringham.

‘‘Not at all. He has groomed a lot of the players there, and I think to leave now would have been stupid.’’

Sheringham pointed out that Ferguson has brought players like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and brothers Gary and Phil Neville all the way through from the junior ranks.

He added: ‘‘To let someone else get credit for that wouldn’t be a good idea, so I would think he has definitely made the right decision.’’