Tomkins: I should have stayed at West Ham

James Tomkins has admitted that his inclusion in Great Britain's Olympic squad this summer was a waste of time.

The 23-year-old central defender was barely used during the tournament which saw Stuart Pearce's side crash out at the first knockout stage.

And Tomkins, who has lost his place in the first team at West Ham as a result of failing to take part in a full pre-season believes in retrospect that he would have been better served remaining with West Ham during the summer.

"I wanted to represent Great Britain and the manager gave me the chance," he told a tabloid newspaper. "I went there expecting to play more than I did in the end.

"Obviously I wasted a lot of time and then Ginge and Reidy played a lot together in pre-season. It was disappointing for me, but I suppose that is what football is like.

"You just have to keep your head down and keep working hard in training - which I have. It is frustrating to watch, but if we keep getting the results there is not much I can do."

Since returning to West Ham, the Basildon-born defender has made just one start in West Ham's five Premier League fixtures - the 3-0 defeat at Swansea in which he was replaced at half time by Ricardo Vaz Te.

Eleven months ago Tomkins signed a lucrative new five-year contract that keeps him tied to West Ham until 2016. In May on this year he was named as the KUMB.com Player of the Year for 2011/12 and the runner-up Most Improved Player.