Peter Crouch out of England matches
Peter Crouch has been ruled out of England’s upcoming UEFA 2012 European Football Championship qualifying matches.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker has suffered a back injury and manager Fabio Capello will not bring in a replacement.
England will face Bulgaria at Wembley this Friday and will also take on Switzerland away next Tuesday as they open their campaign to reach the finals of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
Goalkeeping problem
Goalkeepers Ben Foster of Manchester City and Scott Carson of West Bromwich Albion missed out on yesterday’s training session due to knee and back problems respectively. Capello brought in Arsenal’s fifth-choice keeper, 19-year-old James Shea, to make up the numbers as the youngster was with the Arsenal reserves on a neighbouring pitch at the time of England’s training session.
However, Capello is hoping to have both players back in training so he can avoid the situation he faced in last month’s friendly against Hungary. Watford’s Under-21 player Scott Loach and Blackburn Rovers’ fourth-choice goalkeeper Frankie Fielding were on the substitutes’ bench in that match as back-up for Manchester City’s Joe Hart — now firmly established as Capello’s first-choice despite not playing at all in the ill-fated 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign in South Africa.
Defensive woes
Phil Jagielka, who was expected to start in central defence on Friday with first-choice defenders John Terry and Rio Ferdinand missing the clash, also missed the training session yesterday due to a swollen ankle. Should he be ruled out of the qualifier, Bolton Wanderers’ Gary Cahill may be in line to make his debut alongside Spurs’ Michael Dawson — who made his bow with the national team in the Hungary match — Manchester City’s Joleon Lescott or Matthew Upson of West Ham United.
Meanwhile, Jermain Defoe, who had been expected to miss out on the qualifiers to undergo an operation on a long-standing groin complaint, trained with Capello’s squad and could be in line to face Bulgaria.
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