EURO 2012 ROUND-UP:FABIO CAPELLO is considering pairing Wayne Rooney with Danny Welbeck in Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier in Montenegro, favouring a partnership that has proved startlingly successful with Manchester United this season.
The England manager has selection dilemmas in attack and defence, with his desire to nullify the threat posed by Montenegro’s Mirko Vucinic prompting him to deliberate whether, of the four right-backs at his disposal, Phil Jagielka or the inexperienced Kyle Walker may be best equipped to combat the Juventus winger.
Yet, while a point will secure qualification for the finals, Capello will insist on an attack-minded approach that could see Rooney benefit from the presence of a strike partner.
Welbeck made his international debut in the friendly against Ghana in March but is vying with Darren Bent for a place in the line-up in Podgorica having impressed at United. He and Rooney have scored four goals between them in the 208 minutes on the pitch together this season – their team went on to win all four matches – and the youngster has scored five times.
The Manchester United youth-team graduate had been pencilled in to start last month’s qualifier in Bulgaria only to suffer a hamstring strain in the 8-2 win over Arsenal. Capello has since highlighted the progress the 20-year-old has made this season, particularly the two goals he scored in last week’s Champions League draw with Basel. “That competition is more like international football than the Premier League,” he said. “Scoring goals in these games is really, really important.”
Welbeck’s chance could now come in the group’s key fixture, with the striker confident he and Rooney can transfer club form to the international game. “I don’t see why Rooney and Welbeck can’t work together as a pair for England,” said Welbeck. “We know each other’s games. It is early days still but because we have been training together for a couple of years now it would work.”
Capello will employ training drills aimed at unsettling Montenegro, the only team who can overhaul England at the top of the group, at London Colney today while he is still deliberating who will play at right-back. The uncapped Walker would offer energy and industry, though there is a wariness about handing the Tottenham Hotspur defender his debut in a critical away fixture, and particularly in direct confrontation with Vucinic.
The Juventus forward is considered Montenegro’s most threatening player, which may prompt Capello to opt for the more experienced and defensively minded Jagielka. Yet the Everton player is nominally a centre-half and has been exposed at the highest level when asked to fill in at right-back.
The manager’s other options are Manchester City’s Micah Richards – a player he has been reluctant to use – and the uncapped Phil Jones who, like Jagielka, has been used only occasionally at full-back.
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CALL-UPS FOR NORTH
GROUP C: Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington has called up Rangers forward Andrew Little and Manchester United midfielder Oliver Norwood for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Estonia and group leaders Italy.
The pair join uncapped Preston defender Conor McLaughlin in being added to Worthington's original squad following a handful of injuries. Northern Ireland are five points behind second-placed Serbia with two games to play. Italy have already qualified for the finals.
GROUP I: Darren Fletcher is a doubt ahead of Scotland's double-header against Liechtenstein and Spain after being hit by illness. Fletcher is suffering from tonsillitis in Manchester and will be assessed by club and Scotland medical staff.
Scotland are two points behind second-placed Czech Republic with two games to play. Spain have already qualified from the group.
