Cahill: I can cut it for England

02 October 2009 16:12
The centre-back has been earning rave reviews with his performances for the Trotters and Capello has been keeping a watchful eye on the 23-year-old. Having first called up Cahill, who has yet to make his senior debut, into his squad to cover for the injured Rio Ferdinand ahead of June's qualifier against Kazakhstan the Italian has closely followed his progress since. Capello was in the stands to watch Bolton's 2-1 victory at Birmingham last weekend and will be at the Reebok Stadium for the visit of Tottenham. With England already having booked their place at the World Cup in South Africa all the signs point towards Cahill finally being given his bow for the senior side with their final two qualifiers coming up in Ukraine a week on Saturday and Belarus at home four days later. The player is trying to remain focused on playing well for Wanderers but he has no doubts he can develop into an established international. "I hope he (Capello) took some positive things from my performance at Birmingham but I'll just keep trying, give 100% and it takes me wherever it takes me," said the former Aston Villa player, who moved to Bolton for a bargain £5million in January 2008. "I definitely think I can play for England one day. I think you've got to be positive, got to be confident in your own ability. "I'm hungry to get there. I work hard and hopefully I'll get there in the end. "I think I'm improving game by game with my positional play, I know the role at centre-back a lot better than when I first came into it. "I'm making fewer mistakes. When I first came I gave away a couple of penalties and a few rash things, but now I'm cutting that out of my game. "I've still got a lot to learn, I'm only a young lad, and if I can keep learning hopefully I can go on to bigger and better things." Manager Gary Megson is backing Cahill to establish himself as a regular international. "I would be confident enough, with the knowledge I have of Gary, to chuck him in whatever the game," he said. "Now England have qualified there is the opportunity to play Gary but that's the manager's decision. "All Gary can do is keep playing well and hope the manager comes down on his side at some stage." Capello names his squad on Monday and Cahill's inclusion could come at the expense of Manchester United's Wes Brown, who has made just two Premier League starts this season, or Matthew Upson, who has missed West Ham's last two matches with a calf strain. The Italian will resist the temptation to radically change his personnel but Cahill is one of a number of fringe players who are likely to be given a chance to impress. However, with a 100% record to maintain and a tricky tie in Ukraine first up he will probably stick with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry - especially with the eastern Europeans still actively involved in the qualification process. If there is any experimentation it is likely to come at Wembley against Belarus. Other players looking to catch Capello's eye this weekend are the likes of Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone, Arsenal winger Theo Walcott - fit again after a side strain - and Aston Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor. All will be watched by Capello over the next three days, who also has a number of other decisions to make about various other players. Portsmouth goalkeeper David James is expected to be recalled after injury forced him out of the last squad, which means one of Robert Green, Ben Foster or Paul Robinson will miss out. If the England boss deems Walcott, who has not played this season, is fit enough to compete that could put Manchester City's Shaun Wright-Phillips' place under threat. Spurs striker Peter Crouch will hope to retain his place so Agbonlahor may be waiting on withdrawals after the Ukraine match to get his chance. Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe, who has dislocated fingers, trained today but the decision on whether to pick him could be taken out of Capello's hands if he is not fit enough enough to play against Bolton.

Source: Team_Talk