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England coach Steve McClaren will have to plan without [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] Dean
Ashton as he prepares for crucial UEFA EURO 2008 qualifers against
Estonia and Russia. Ashton suffered knee ligament damage during
West Ham United's 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday and
Hammers boss Alan Curbishley admitted the striker is almost certain
to miss the matches on 13 and 17 October.
McClaren's attacking options are dwindling. He could have
done without seeing his back-up targetman injured as he is already
without Wigan Athletic forward Emile Heskey, while Michael Owen may
have to play even though he is far from fully fit after a groin
operation.
It is terrible luck for Ashton who has yet to make his England
debut after suffering a serious ankle injury while training with
the national team in August 2006. "Dean has hurt his medial
knee ligament," Curbishely said. "I would think he is
very doubtful for England. He couldn't really run near the end
so I imagine that is it for him.
"It's a [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] big blow for England but it's also a big
blow for us as we have injuries aplenty up front. It all depends
how badly he has hurt his ligaments. We will have to wait and see
but I would say things are looking a bit tight for the next two
weeks.
"You feel sorry for the lad because he has had his fair
share of bad luck and has worked ever so hard to get himself back
fit and playing."
McClaren will send out a very different England team against
Estonia from the one that beat Russia 3-0 in their last match. He
is considering leaving out three of his first choice defence to
avoid the risk of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole getting
bookings that would rule them out of the crunch trip to Russia.
The trio are all one yellow card away from suspension and
McClaren said: "It is a consideration. I have to ask myself do
I want to risk losing someone. It means picking a team for Estonia
is not an entirely straightforward issue, there are other factors
involved as well.
"Clearly though, our priority is to win and avoid dropping
points at home as we did against Macedonia. If we do that, what
happens in Russia is irrelevant."
McClaren must also decide whether to bring back [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] Frank Lampard at
the expense of Gareth Barry. Lampard is fit after a thigh injury
and McClaren admitted he had been disappointed to lose the Chelsea
midfielder for the last two matches.
But Barry produced two excellent performances in those games and
gelled well with Steven Gerrard. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] "Frank gives us another
option because he is a midfield player who can score goals, which
is something we have spoken about before," McClaren said.
"He was man of the match against Germany in August but no
individual player has any right to be guaranteed a place in the
England side. It is on performances and form. I will have no
hesitation in picking players I think will win the game. Other
players have to understand that."
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