Adams misses Bulgaria game

Tony Adams will miss England's European Championship qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley this afternoon after failing a fitness test on the back and ankle injuries which had been troubling him all week. Darren Anderton, however, has recovered from a groin strain and will play.

In Adams's absence, Gareth Southgate will probably move to the middle of the back three, which is where he normally plays for Aston Villa. Gary Neville is expected to be recalled on the right side of the defence, with Sol Campbell continuing on the left.

As a player, Glenn Hoddle's England career suffered a fog-bound start 19 years ago when a European Championship fixture against Bulgaria at Wembley had to be put back 24 hours. Now, against the same country in the same competition at the same venue, England have the chance to disperse the thickening mists of doubt over the way the present team is heading under Hoddle the coach.

In 1979 Hoddle made one goal and scored another in a comfortable 2-0 England victory. He would settle for a similar performance and result today against a Bulgaria side beaten 3-0 at home by Poland in their opening qualifying game and still lacking many of their more experienced players.

For England, three points now, with the promise of another three in Luxembourg on Wednesday, would allay some of the misgivings which have nagged at Hoddle since the 2-1 defeat in Sweden five weeks ago.

He went into that match harassed by the media over his indiscreet World Cup diary and the role that his faith-healing friend, Eileen Drewery, was perceived to have in England's affairs. Since then, his reluctance to rush into signing a new contract has been taken as an indication that he may not be taking England into the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup.

It is a year to the weekend since Hoddle reached what has so far been the peak of his achievements as England coach, the well-planned, astutely organised scoreless draw against Italy in Rome which ensured an English presence in the 1998 World Cup. Hoddle's career in charge of the England squad has since levelled out, with the early return home from France, then gone into decline with the Stockholm result and the poor performance that accompanied it.

So both man and team are in equal need of a win this afternoon and it is a bad time to be losing players through suspension or injury. Already deprived of the banned Paul Ince and David Beckham, and with Ray Parlour's damaged ankle forcing him to withdraw from the squad, Hoddle has had to wait on Adams and Anderton before deciding his lineup.

The absence of Adams through injury contributed to England's only defeat in the last World Cup qualifiers when Italy beat them 1-0 at Wembley. But they do not appear to be about to lose to Bulgaria for the first time. The worry is that they might not win without Ince's drive in midfield and his ability to carry the game to opponents massing back in defence.

Bulgaria have been shedding established players like it was the moulting season. Only nine of their World Cup squad are among the 19 from whom the team will be picked to face England. Their latest coach, Dimitar Dimitrov, has not recalled Krassimir Balakov and Emil Kostadinov, Trifon Ivanov is no longer there either and Lyuboslav Penev refuses to rejoin the party.

Yet Hristo Stoichov will be at Wembley to exploit any recurrence of the lapses of concentration at the back which cost England so dearly in Sweden. The limpness of his players' response to going behind was what worried Hoddle most in that match.

"Sometimes in games of football you lose the reins for whatever reason," he said yesterday. "This week we've been focusing on the things we need to improve upon if we're going to get back into a game when we're chasing it."

Redknapp looks like being partnered by Robert Lee in central midfield. David Batty, Lee's Newcastle United team-mate, is a more established England player but has only just returned from a long layoff through injury.

England (probable): Seaman (Arsenal); G Neville (Man Utd), Southgate (Aston Villa), Campbell (Tottenham); Anderton (Tottenham), Redknapp (Liverpool), Lee (Newcastle), Scholes (Man Utd), Le Saux (Chelsea); Shearer (Newcastle), Owen (Liverpool).