BATH'S Sam Burgess insists he will continue emptying the tanks in his pursuit of a place in England's World Cup squad as an inside centre.

Head coach Stuart Lancaster has told Burgess he will only be considered as a midfield option and not at blindside flanker, the position in which he produced his best rugby since switching codes to join Bath last October.

The 26-year-old is happy with Lancaster's decision as he concentrates on surviving the reduction in the 45-man World Cup training squad that will see eight or nine players axed on Friday.

"The way I look at it is I am under Stuart and it is his call," Burgess said.

"Wherever he wants to play me I will give it my best shot and try and earn my team-mates' respect and feel comfortable with where I am playing. I just get on with the job.

"I am certainly proud of the strides I have made in union from day one to now. I'm not going to sit on it, there's still a lot of work to be done.

"There's a long way to go to get into the squad and then be successful within that. I am going to continue working hard but if someone says 'are you proud?' - I would definitely say yes.

"I'm quite relaxed with the World Cup being so close. There are cuts coming soon, so I'm just enjoying improving on a daily basis.

"When the games come, the games come. If I am still around, I am still around. For now, I just try to better myself daily because as I said you never know when your journey is going to finish."

Bath teammate Dominic Day has been included in Wales team to play Ireland in a World Cup warm-up clash at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.