England call on Arsenal's youth goalkeeper to make up the numbers

Posted Wednesday, September 01, 2010 by theguardian.com

Sunderland signed Asamoah Gyan, Stoke and Birmingham went transfer crazy, and Ryan Babel got on a helicopter

England call on Arsenal's youth goalkeeper to make up the numbers
Arsenal goalkeeper James Shea trains with the England team.

Fabio Capello expects Ben Foster and Scott Carson to return to training tomorrow having been forced to turn to Arsenal's fifth-choice goalkeeper, James Shea, to make up the numbers at the squad's first training session ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

Shea, the Islington-born 19-year-old who impressed as Arsenal's youth team claimed the FA Premier Academy league title and FA Youth Cup in 2009, was asked to swap training with the club's reserve side on a neighbouring pitch to join Joe Hart with the full England squad.

Arsène Wenger was present at London Colney and sanctioned the switch with Shea playing a full part in the training session, with Wayne Rooney chipping him from 18 yards during one of the practice matches.

While Shea enjoyed his experience – "He was enjoying it, apart from Wazza's chip," said his club-mate Theo Walcott – Capello will be anxious for Foster and the recalled Carson to recover from the knee and back problems respectively that prevented their participation.

England had been forced to include Watford's Under-21 goalkeeper Scott Loach and Blackburn's fourth choice Frankie Fielding on the bench in last month's friendly against Hungary following an injury to Foster and Paul Robinson's unanticipated retirement in the build-up to that fixture, indicating the lack of options available to Capello.

Hart will make his first competitive start on Friday against Bulgaria, though the make-up of the defence to line up in front of the Manchester City player is still to be determined. John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are both absent through injury, and Phil Jagielka failed to train as he continues to nurse a swollen ankle. He will be assessed again tomorrow with Matthew Upson, capped 21 times but rated at only 57.96 out of 100 on the infamous yet still up and running Capello Index website this season, to be the most experienced of the centre-halves to whom Capello can turn.

The recalled Joleon Lescott, used at left-back to date this season by City, will compete with Michael Dawson and the uncapped Gary Cahill as a partner should Jagielka, who started against Hungary, fail to recover sufficiently.

The England management team will be more encouraged by Jermain Defoe's appearance at training given the Tottenham Hotspur forward had initially been expected to undergo surgery on a long-standing groin complaint during the current window. He should be available for Friday's opening qualifier, with the FA reporting encouraging ticket sales for the visit of Bulgaria to the national stadium.