Post by Taxigirl on Jan 6, 2004 9:59:11 GMT
Alan Thompson could have played his way into contention for a place in England's Euro 2004 squad after another excellent performance against Rangers.
England assistant manager Tord Grip was highly impressed by both Thompson and Chris Sutton in Saturday's 3-0 win.
Grip says either he or Sven-Goran Eriksson will watch the pair again when they play Hearts later this month.
"Sven has been very impressed with them both. They've done very well in Europe, so they can play at the top," he said.
"Sven's likely to look at different players and I think we will do that because we know what we have got so far."
Both players have been touted for England call-ups for over a season now, but with the left side of midfield still a problematic role for Eriksson, Thompson is the most likely to feature in the squad to play Portugal on 18 February.
"First of all Alan Thompson is playing on the left-hand side and has a great left foot. Celtic play in some sort of a diamond formation and it's not too difficult to put him into our formation," added Grip.
"He has played as a wing back and now in a 4-4-2 and a diamond so the step up won't be too difficult."
Grip was at Celtic Park on Saturday, but had left by the time Thompson scored his delightful free kick late in the game.
"In the first half I thought Alan Thompson did very well because they (Celtic) were more up for it and played more offensively and in the second half they just sat back.
"He couldn't create or do much in the second half but he scored a marvellous free-kick goal.
"I had to get away early but I made sure I saw it on television because it was a very good goal."
Sutton could also have earned a call-up, although Grip sees his best position as a defensive midfield role, not one he regularly occupies for Celtic.
"I saw him several times at Blackburn where he played up front, sometimes he went back to centre-back and now he is playing in midfield," Grip added.
"He can play in an offensive role but I think the best role for him would be in a defensive role in central midfield because he was very good there especially in the second half on Saturday."