Ananova:

Sale's latest British and Irish Lion Mark Cueto plans to repay the club for the backing they have given him through the hard times when he lines up for them against Pau in the European Challenge Cup final at Oxford on Saturday.

The 25-year-old winger has won only eight England caps and was left out of Sir Clive Woodward's initial Lions squad only to be called up when Leeds' 2001 Lion Iain Balshaw was forced to admit defeat in his battle to recover from a torn thigh muscle.

Cueto admits he has often been left wondering about his omissions from England duty, particularly when Woodward was in charge but said: "Everyone at Sale has been fantastic. My mindset has been to put the disappointments of non-selection for England out of my head."

He added: "When I was not involved with England over the last two or three years I could not let it affect my game. It was just important for me to do my talking on the pitch."

That approach finally paid dividends for Cueto when he got a call out of the blue as he trained with his team-mates in preparation for Saturday's clash with the French club.

And he has no intention of succumbing to the fear of injury over Sale's cause as the Lions begin their preparations in earnest at the Vale of Glamorgan training base they will share this week with FA Cup finalists Manchester United.

"It's important to keep playing and keep my form going and hopefully there will be no injuries," said Cueto, who learned of his call-up from club coach Philippe Saint-Andre.

"We were training at Stockport and the four guys in the original Lions squad knew they were leaving to come to Cardiff and they finished the session early to get showered and changed.

"Ten minutes after they left I was still out there training and Philippe came over and broke the news and I was not sure if he was joking or not.

"It has been a real emotional roller-coaster. I did not find out until 11.30am mid-training session, then straight into the shower and down to Cardiff. The phone was so busy on the way down, the battery died."

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