Fabio Capello has called up Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor for England’s final two World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus, but there is no place for Arsenal’s Theo Walcott.
Walcott scored in Arsenal’s 6-2 win over against Blackburn on his return to action on Sunday after several weeks out with a back problem.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger claimed he would have no problem if the winger was named into Capello’s squad for the matches against the Ukraine on Saturday and Belarus at Wembley the following Wednesday.
CAUTIOUS
But Capello has adopted a cautious approach and decided against drafting the 20-year-old into his squad for the first time this season, even though England have already booked their place at next year’s finals in South Africa.
Capello has opted against experimenting with his squad in two relatively meaningless matches. Jermain Defoe and Ben Foster’s absences have been put down to injury, a hand problem in the case of the Tottenham striker, with Manchester United’s goalkeeper ruled out with an unspecified problem.
IMPRESSIVE RUN
Agbonlahor is recalled as Defoe’s replacement after an impressive run for Villa, while veteran Portsmouth goalkeeper David James is back in place of Foster.
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is also restored to the squad following injury problems.
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