Saints star Rickie Lambert admits the wait for a phone call from Roy Hodgson about his World Cup fate has been the most anxious of his life.

The England manager reveals his squad for Brazil this afternoon, with the players due to have been informed of their status by this morning.

Lambert and his Saints teammates Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw are all hoping to earn a place at the tournament.

Rather than simply naming a provisional 30-man group, Hodgson will announce his 23-man list, as well as seven standby spots.

Lambert has little doubt he will be among the 30, but he was still not certain yesterday whether he would be in the main squad.

“I’m confident that I’ll be in the 30, but I don’t know if I’ll be in the 23 yet,” he said.

Lambert was in good spirits after scoring in yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United, but he was expecting a nervous couple of hours in the aftermath of the game.

“(It’s) probably the most anxious wait in my entire life,” said the 32-year-old, who ended the season with 13 Premier League goals.

“It will mean more to me than anything else that’s ever happened in football and something that I would always remember for the rest of my life.”

Lambert added: “It will be the biggest thing in my life right now.

“When I’m 75 or 80 it will be something to look back on and tell the grandchildren about until the ends of time, so that they don’t want to listen.

“I’ll always be able to say I went to a World Cup and that means as much to me as it does to anyone else.”

Hodgson chose to spend the final day of the campaign at St Mary’s, where a seat has been reserved for him on a near-weekly basis.

While his squad was already set in his mind before the last weekend of the season, Lambert did no harm by netting another goal in front of the England boss.

“It was good that he was here,” said Lambert.

“He’s been here all season so it’s something that might have affected me last season, but to be fair to Southampton he’s shown to everyone that he’ll pick from any club.”