West Ham United defender, Angelo Ogbonna, has admitted frustration missing Italy’s Euros squad.
Ogbonna feels his form with the Irons was enough to earn him a place in coach Roberto Mancini’s selection.
The former Juventus defender told Sky Italia: “For me it was a positive year, our goal was salvation and we managed to grab the Europa League.
“I was saddened by the lack of a call-up, I can’t hide it, but I’m very happy with the path of our national team, the approach to the matches is totally different than in other years. In my case, I think there was little meritocracy but the coach will have had his reasons for making such choices.
“But it is my analysis, it is not a criticism of the coach. But after such a year…”
Asked if he was penalised for not playing in Italy, Ogbonna added: “I don’t think so. Then I was injured for two months, I came back in the last month and maybe that penalised me.”
