STEFAN Ratchford says his aim for England's Test series against New Zealand is to nail down the white number one shirt.

The Warrington Wolves star is the man in possession having started at full-back for the 36-18 victory over the Kiwis in Denver in June.

His main competition for the full-back role is expected to come from Catalans-bound Sam Tomkins, who has returned to the England fold for the first time since 2014, and St Helens' Jonny Lomax.

However, with Lomax having spent much of the season playing at stand-off for Saints, Ratchford and Tomkins look set to battle it out for the right to be Wayne Bennett's last line of defence.

"Every time I’ve been involved in an England camp, the ultimate goal is to be representing your country and being involved in those games," the Wire man said.

"I’ve been able to do that in the past couple of years, but it would be nice to pick up more caps.

"Jonny Lomax and Sam Tomkins are in there, so there’s going to be a lot of competition for the full-back shirt.

"All I can do is train as hard as I can, but it will come down to what Wayne wants to go with.

"If he picks me for the first game, it will be good to get a first crack at it and I’ll do my best to keep hold of my shirt.

"If he doesn’t, I’ll train even harder to try and impress Wayne and get a chance."

Lomax could be more likely to be considered for a half-back role, especially with Gareth Widdop and Luke Gale missing the series with shoulder and knee injuries respectively while Wire teammate Kevin Brown retired from international duty earlier this year.

Ratchford, who has five England caps to his name, has spent large swathes of his career playing as a half-back, and while he has not played there extensively for a number of years, the 30-year-old says he would be more than happy to fill in should Bennett ask him to.

"At international level, you have to be willing to play anywhere," he said.

"If Wayne came up to me and told me I was playing in any position, I would be happy.

"We’ve been quite unfortunate with injuries in the halves this year, plus Kev retiring.

"If you look at what we have in the halves though with George Williams, Richie Myler and Jake Connor, they are three quality halves.

"Sam Tomkins plays there very well as well, Jonny Lomax has been unbelievable there this season.

"I don’t think we’re lacking half-backs, but if Wayne wanted to go with Jonny or Sam at full-back and there was an opening in the halves, I’d certainly be willing to put my hand up and give it a good go."

New Zealand arrive in England having just beaten world champions Australia 26-24 in Auckland in their second game under new head coach Michael Maguire.

They are able to call upon experienced players such as Shaun Johnson, Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor for the series – something they were not able to do in Denver.

However, when reflecting on their last meeting with the Kiwis, Ratchford says more should be made of England's good performance to claim the victory rather than the players New Zealand were not able to pick.

He also believes the series will epitomise the highly competitive nature of international rugby league.

"I don’t think there will be a massive difference to what we saw in Denver," he said.

"They came over with a few players missing, but we have to credit the way we played that day to come away with the win. It was a tough, gutsy performance from us to get the result.

"On the flip side, they have just come off a massive win over Australia and their confidence will be sky-high.

"They will want to get one back for the Denver Test and win the series.

"Everyone is beating each other in international rugby league at the moment.

"The game is very strong and competitive at the moment, and I’m sure that’s what this series will be."