Post by Salem6 on Oct 11, 2005 14:39:56 GMT
England plan to make four changes
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has hinted Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ledley King, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand will all start against Poland.
ENGLAND V POLAND
Wednesday 12 October
Kick off 1945 BST
Live coverage on BBC One, Radio Five Live
David Beckham (suspended), Steven Gerrard, Sol Campbell (both injured) and Peter Crouch (dropped) will be the men to make way against Poland.
Eriksson said: "Rooney is back, which is positive, so he will play up front.
"Shaun is the natural replacement for Beckham but we will do some tactical work and decide after that 100%."
Owen will lead the side, having taken the captain's armband when Beckham was sent off against Austria on Saturday.
That red card rules him out of Wednesday's game, but the Football Association has asked Real Madrid if he can stay with the squad anyway.
Real have yet to decide but have recalled Michel Salgado and Thomas Gravesen to the club as they are serving international bans.
England have already qualified for the 2006 World Cup but will be bidding to finish top of their group by beating leaders Poland at Old Trafford.
A positive result could affect their seeding at the World Cup.
Beckham is out of the game along with injury casualties Steven Gerrard and Sol Campbell.
Liverpool midfielder Gerrard is sidelined after injuring his shin against Austria on Saturday and Arsenal defender Campbell is suffering from a hamstring problem.
It is unclear whether the game at Old Trafford has anything riding on it, with Fifa not planning to decide until December whether qualification results will be used to determine seedings.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4326522.stm