The Southampton star was part of the back four on Friday as the Three Lions made it nine wins out of nine in Euro Qualifying with a 2-0 victory over Estonia.
With regular competitors for the spot such Luke Shaw and Leighton Baines sidelined by injury, the 26-year-old has been handed a chance to impress boss Roy Hodgson.
Lithuania v England
Euro Qualifier
LFF Stadion, Vilnius
7.45pm, Monday 12 October 2015
Live on ITV 1
And now Bertrand has got possession of the shirt, he is determined to keep it within his grasp as the England squad head to Vilnius for their final qualifier with Lithuania.
"There are a lot of us vying for that place," admits the former Chelsea man. "It's about putting in consistency and when we get the chance, we take it.
"There are a few of us in there: myself, Luke, Leighton, [Kieran] Gibbs, even [Danny] Rose and Aaron Cresswell at West Ham.
"I think, first and foremost, when you get here, you do want to perform well.
"But also the position is one that, at club level, is about establishing that consistency within the Premier League and then hopefully those performances are recognised."
See our exclusive pitchside and tunnel highlights from Wembley as England beat Estonia
That ethos served Bertrand well last term, as his performances for Southampton earned him a place in the Premier League team of the year and a call-up for the games with Ireland and Slovenia in June.
But after missing pre-season as he recovered from summer surgery on a long-standing knee problem, the former AFC Bournemouth, Oldham Athletic, Norwich City and Reading loanee has had to play catch up with his team-mates in terms of fitness, something which he believes can only help with next summer in mind.
"It's good to be back playing, having been injured over the summer," he explained.
"This is my third game back [on Friday] so the lungs are feeling it. I need to ease myself in and be sensible.
"The operation was something I had planned from January onwards. It was killing me, to be honest.
"It was something I wanted to get done as soon as possible, so I could limit the amount of games that I would miss, rather miss than December or January times, which we all know is a very important period in the Premier League."
And he is now hoping that the hard work now will give him the extra strength needed for England’s trip to France next summer.
