Injury-hit England limit Eriksson to third choice

England's third-choice defence will face a makeshift Dutch attack on Wednesday in a World Cup qualifying warm-up that has been badly hit by ...

England’s third-choice defence will face a makeshift Dutch attack on Wednesday in a World Cup qualifying warm-up that has been badly hit by injuries. Hopes of seeing Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben tangling with Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell at Villa Park have been dashed by a spate of pulled muscles and broken bones.

Not only have injuries laid low Sven-Goran Eriksson’s first-choice central defensive pairing of Ferdinand and Campbell, they have also ruled out his second-choice as well, with John Terry and Ledley King both succumbing to knocks sustained over the weekend.

Add the enforced withdrawal of another reserve, Matthew Upson, plus the long-term absence of Jonathan Woodgate, and Eriksson has little choice but to field utility man Jamie Carragher and fringe player Wes Brown at the heart of his defence.

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Going forwards, though, life could not be better for England.

Teenager Wayne Rooney and strike partner Michael Owen are in superb form at Manchester United and Real Madrid, while midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have also been scoring freely, taking Chelsea to the top of the Premier League and Liverpool into the Champions League knockout stages.

Manchester City winger Shaun-Wright Phillips, who wrought havoc with champions Arsenal last month, should add a fourth cap and there are debuts in store for Middlesbrough left winger Stewart Downing and Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson.

Eriksson is expected to make half a dozen changes during the game, possibly lining up as a 4-3-3 with Rooney, Owen and Wright-Phillips in attack, before switching to a 4-4-2 with Wright-Phillips dropping back to his more usual role.

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Wednesday is a practice run before World Cup qualifying resumes in late March, when England meet Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan in Group Six and the Dutch play Romania and Armenia in Group One.

The last two meetings between the sides, also in friendlies, were more memorable for some of the goals than the results.

Mark van Bommel scored with a spectacular swerving shot from 35 metres out in a 2-0 victory for the Dutch at White Hart Lane in 2001, while Darius Vassell marked his England debut with an acrobatic bicycle kick in their 1-1 draw in Amsterdam the following year.

… but Phillips ready to play anywhere

Winger Shaun Wright-Phillips is willing to play anywhere for England in his bid to reach the 2006 World Cup finals. The exciting 23-year-old is set to play out of position in Wednesday’s friendly against the Netherlands at Villa Park because captain David Beckham’s place on the right is virtually guaranteed. ‘‘I just like to cause problems for defenders,’’ Wright-Phillips told reporters at England’straining base on Monday. ‘‘It doesn’t matter to me which side I’m on, if it’s the left, then so be it.’’

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