Frank Lampard has declared himself ready for England duty this week after making a successful return from injury in Sunday's win at Bolton.
The Chelsea midfielder returned to action at The Reebok after six weeks out with a troublesome thigh injury.
Lampard completed the 90 minutes against Bolton and he says he is ready to play for England in the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.

With Lampard back from injury, McLaren is faced with the decision to keep faith in Gareth Barry, or bring Chelsea's Frank Lampard back into the squad for Englands next EURO 2008 encounter with Estonia on the 13th of October.

Martin Jol has raced to the defence of under-fire Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson ahead of England's two crunch Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Robinson has received renewed criticism and his place in the England first XI for the games against Estonia on Saturday and Russia four days later is being questioned after he produced another howler against Liverpool.

The Tottenham shot-stopped spilled a Steven Gerrard free-kick to present Andriy Voronin with the opening goal in Spurs' 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.

However, Robinson - who produced England errors in the friendly with Germany in August - has received the support of Tottenham manager Martin Jol.


Martin Jol:
"I am not concerned about Paul Robinson's form and suggestions he made another mistake," said Jol.

"If you see the replay you see that it got a deflection off Jermaine Jenas, hitting his knee, it was not a mistake. It hit him and Voronin was first to the rebound.

"Nobody went with the runner, it was a bad goal from the defence's point of view.

"I have no worries about Paul. Every game is different, he has confidence and that is why I played him in midweek against Famagusta, and at Anfield



source: SkySports.com

caricature: http://www.sportcartoons.co.uk/caricatures/paulrobinson.jpg

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English

A relaxed Steve McClaren declared himself to be impressed by Michael Owen's form in training, while continuing to back his beleaguered goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
The England coach was talking at a press conference, live on Sky Sports News, and appeared confident ahead of Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia.
Owen has made remarkable progress from a double bout of surgery and having played and scored for Newcastle at the weekend, just eight days after going under the knife, he is now firmly in McClaren's thoughts.
McClaren went on to categorically reject the suggestion that a club-versus-country row is simmering with Newcastle.
"He was very sharp. All the players did (look sharp) considering they had played (at the weekend) but I was very impressed with him," he told Sky Sports News.
"People talk of a conflict between Newcastle, Michael and ourselves. Nothing further from the truth. We liaise with the medical people at the club, Big Sam and with the player. No risk will be taken on the player but Michael is a very big player for us. And if Michael is fit then Michael will play.


"He's with England now, we'll liaise with Newcastle, but he's with England.
"We'll asses him and if he's fit, then he'll play. Ultimately we don't take risks with players. It is the players' welfare we have at heart. But he's important for England - anyone put in my position would want a fit Michael Owen playing."
Tottenham goalkeeper Robinson has endured a miserable slump in form in the past month but McClaren insists he harbours no doubts over his No.1.
"He has never let us down and Paul Robinson is in."

source: SkySports.com

I think Lampard will be on the bench against Estonia but come the Russia match i feel he will start

I think Lampard will be on the bench against Estonia but come the Russia match i feel he will start

Dont chance anything apart from the keeper and the player that a injured, so that means bringing in either james or carson and Rooney.

I'm very interested to see what what the line up will be. I know the two 3 - 0's where against team we shold beat anyway but I really thought the balance and team was right.

Now that we have the likes of Rooney and Lampard back I'll be very interested to see how he lines up the team.

I hope McClaren has learnt enough of the past few games to know that playing all the starts doesn't always mean it 's the best team.

yer ill be pretty keen to see what happens .. they hav a bit of decent depth now in the mids so they will hav to chose wisely

I'm glad Lampard is fit. It'll mean for a crunch decision for McLaren, and he can't dodge it by injury like he's been able to with Heskey..

I don't think it is such a hard decision, he has dropped Lampard in other games before and Barry has played well in the last game.

Barry should have started.

Liverpool ace Steven Gerrard will captain England against Estonia in John Terry's absence.

With usual captain Terry out of Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier, head coach Steve McClaren has asked Gerrard to take the armband.
Gerrard is hopeful Terry will be fit enough to return against Russia on Wednesday, but is happy to be captain in his absence.
"I think JT's got a bit of a knee problem. Hopefully he'll be able to play on Wednesday," he said live on Sky Sports News.
"The manager has told me I'm skipper. To be captain at the new Wembley will be a special day for myself."

What are your thoughts on this? who would you haev chosen if Gerrard wasn't in the team as vice captain?

source: SkySports.com

With Frank Lampard fit and available following injury, the question has been asked who Gerrard would rather play alongside.
Aston Villa ace Gareth Barry was superb for England against Israel and Russia, but is not guaranteed to retain his place against Estonia.
However, Gerrard does not mind who McClaren opts to select to play alongside him in midfield.
"They are all great midfielders, whether it's Gareth or Frank," he continued. "That's a difficult decision for the manager.
"I feel comfortable playing alongside both of them."

source: SkySports.com

Steve McClaren has confirmed Sol Campbell is expected to deputise for injured England captain John Terry against Estonia.
Terry has been ruled out of the Euro 2008 qualifier at Wembley after suffering a knee injury in training and will have his fitness assessed ahead of the trip to Russia next week.
Campbell is set to return to the England line-up for the first time since McClaren took over after the 2006 World Cup and will partner Rio Ferdinand against Estonia.
McClaren is confident the Portsmouth defender, who will win his 70th cap, is a more-than capable replacement for Terry.
"The team will be confirmed this evening but I can say that Sol Campbell will be the likely one to replace John Terry," McClaren said on Sky Sports News.
"To be able to call upon someone of that experience and that quality, with the way he's playing at his club as well, is tremendous.
"He will add to the team, we're talking about leaders being important in any team and Sol Campbell certainly epitomises leadership."

source: SkySports.com

Steve McClaren is confident Rooney_79586.shtml'>Wayne Rooney can end his international goal drought and form a dangerous partnership with Michael Owen.
Rooney and Owen will lead the line for England in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia at Wembley - the first time McClaren has been able to pair the duo since taking over from Sven Goran Eriksson after the 2006 World Cup.
Manchester United star Rooney has not scored a competitive goal at international level since Euro 2004, when he was still at Everton.
But McClaren has no concerns over the young striker and was happy to hear him admit that he had not played well for England over the last two years.

"Wayne's lack of goals does not worry me," said McClaren. "He has not really played regularly enough to have an opportunity.
"He is still very inexperienced and he is still very young. He has the potential to be a world-class player and knows what he has to do to realise it.
"That is why Wayne's comments were very honest and should be applauded.
"It is refreshing for a player to say he is disappointed with his own performance. There should be more of that."

McClaren does not feel Rooney is being hampered by the weight of expectation which have been placed on his young shoulders, and is confident he can progress even further.
He said: "I think his performances and the way he exploded on to the scene warranted all the attention and plaudits.
"I really do believe he has carried that on. The move to Manchester United was good for him. He's learning and developing there and he has a lot of years ahead of him to become even better.
"All I want him to do is keep performing the way he has been at United and continue to be the threat we all know Rooney_79586.shtml'>Wayne Rooney can be.
"The key thing is I am excited at having Michael and Wayne in the same team and I believe we will see that they can score goals together."

source: SkySports.com

hope he doesn't play.

hope he doesn't play.

England coast to victory

England cruised to a 3-0 victory over Estonia at Wembley, with Rooney_79586.shtml'>Wayne Rooney scoring his first competitive goal for his country since the European Championships in 2004.

Steve McClaren opted to retain Gareth Barry in midfield alongside Steven Gerrard, who was captain in the absence of the injured John Terry, while Rooney replaced Emile Heskey in attack.

England took just 11 minutes to break the deadlock, as Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips exchanged passes on the right before the latter fired a shot low between Mart Poom's legs at his near post.

Seven minutes later it was almost 2-0 as Rooney floated an audacious chip just over the crossbar from 20 yards, with Poom struggling to get back to cover.

Just after the half-hour mark Rooney got his name on the scoresheet, as he latched onto Joe Cole's ball in from the left and his left-foot effort was deflected past the stranded Poom.

Within a minute it was 3-0 to England as Poom was gain left helpless by one of his own defenders.

This time Ashley Cole swung the ball in from the left and Taavi Rahn's header from the edge of the area directed the ball into the corner of the net as Poom tried to get across to cover.

The second half started badly for England, with Ashley Cole going down after a challenge in his own area and eventually being taken from the arena on a stretcher with a nasty looking ankle injury.

Joel Lindpere drove a shot wide of the target from the edge of the area as Estonia pushed forward and soon after the same player forced one of few saves from Paul Robinson.

Frank Lampard took over from Michael Owen with 20 minutes to play, with his arrival greeted by boos from some home fans.

Ragnar Klavan then rifled a shot high and wide from 20 yards as Estonia continued to push forward.

Late on Gerrard and Joe Cole broke the offside trap, but the England skipper tried to cut inside the last defender and the chance went begging.

Joe Cole then sliced a shot wide with just Poom to beat as England had to settle for another 3-0 victory, with their next test a much tougher one in Russia on Wednesday night.