With the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers quickly approaching, who will be the full backs in the England squad, for the two important fixtures?
Now the left and right back positions in the England national side are pretty straight forward to be quite honest. The likelihood of new faces to appear in the squad to get one of these positions is highly unlikely but not impossible.
A name that will be one of the first in the squad list will be England centurion Ashley Cole. The reliable, consistent and superb left back is regarded as one of the best Left backs in the world by many and this is why he has joined the elite group of players, to get 100 England caps. These are crucial fixtures for England so Ashley Cole will not be dropped unless he picks up an injury.
Another name that will be down on Roy Hodgson's list will be Right back Glen Johnson. The Liverpool man seems to save his best performances for the famous white jersey and it is why he is always on the team sheet. He has been able to claim a starting place without competition for some time now due to the amount of Injuries that Manchester City defender, Micah Richards picks up. However you can not take away the fact that Glen Johnson has a very strong attacking work rate a decent defensive work rate. Many criticise Johnson for his Liverpool performances and how he defends but, his work in an England shirt is completely different.
In terms of back ups for England in the full back positions there are two likely candidates. The first is Everton man Leighton Baines. Baines is a superb footballer: he is very agile, has a terrific shot and a sublime left foot. Now he can't really be called a back up because of how strong he is but in comparison to Ashley Cole, he will have to wait till Cole retires.
The other back up has to be the pacy Spurs right back, Kyle Walker. Walker had a superb season in 2011/12 and has continued that form under Andre Villas-Boas this season which has helped Tottenham into the race for Champions League qualification. His speed is his best asset but as a defender he lacks fault and scores several goals when he ventures forward.
Obviously they are the ones that are expected but what about the unexpected call ups we're now expected to expect.
One player who certainly deserves a call up is Spurs left back (on loan at Sunderland) Danny Rose. The former Leeds man has been having a sensational season on Wearside and really deserves a call up however, this all depends on his injury problems. Rose hasn't played much in the last month due to problems with his hamstrings which are starting to hamper his progress in the north east. Rose had disappeared out of the public eye for a while after scoring that 'one hit wonder' goal against Arsenal but this season he has put his name back on the lips of all Sunderland, Spurs and England supporters.
Another player who could be called up is Martin Kelly. He may not have been playing too many games recently for Liverpool but he plays for Liverpool. If you play for Liverpool, you are likely to get into the England side because the manager, used to manage Liverpool. If you have noticed the trend for players being called up to the England squad, the majority of call ups are from Liverpool and even the replacements.
My England full back selection for the upcoming WCQ's : Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Kyle Walker and Leighton Baines.
Source: DSG
