England Vs Montenegro: The Build-Up

The country's football contingent take their focus off their individual club problems this week and join together for England's problems as we face Montenegro in the latest Euro 2012 qualifier. Pre-match talk has been dominated by the decision to call up Bolton forward Kevin Davies and who will captain the side, but mostly we are looking forward to what should be a win for the Three Lions.

I would be very surprised if Kevin Davies got his first England cap on Tuesday, unless if England are winning with ten minutes to go and the Montenegro fight has gone. This is no insult on the man, I am one of those who think he is a good footballer. Game in, game out, he has put the performances in for Bolton and has began to add more goals to his game in the past few seasons. But his first call-up to the senior squad has come too late for him I'm sorry to say and he is only there due to injuries to Jermain Defoe, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Bobby Zamora, with Emile Heskey retired and Carlton Cole out of form. Don't expect him to stick around like Heskey did.

It has been revealed that Rio Ferdinand will regain the captaincy, after Steven Gerrard took over the role for the previous qualifiers. A diplomatic decision from Fabio Capello, one he probably had to make but I don't agree. Rio is a quality defender and with the absence of John Terry, he is the obvious leader of the backline. But Gerrard is a much better captain for me; leave the defence to do their job and let Gerrard lead the team forward from a central attacking role. That's where he can really hurt teams and if he performs like he can and has done for England recently, it's not a forgone conclusion that Frank Lampard walks back into the side.

Apart from those issues, it seems pretty straight forward. Joe Hart should and will retain his place in goal, in front of a back-four of Glen Johnson, Ferdinand, Lescott (with Terry and Phil Jagielka missing) and Ashley Cole. It's hard to see the midfield changing too much; Gareth Barry, Gerrard and James Milner should retain their spots and there's not a big difference if either Adam Johnson or Ashley Young come into the team. With Darren Bent now out of the squad, Peter Crouch will most likely start upfront with Wayne Rooney. Solid team.

Montenegro can of course not be underestimated. With Mirko Vucinic leading the line, they have genuine quality and as their unbeaten record so far this qualifying campaign shows, they can pose problems for England. But we are also in good form, the build-up to this one has been good and it should result in a win. Fabio Capello got unfairly criticized for the World Cup failure, and he can again see how quickly the British press turn if they don't do well in this one.

Come on England.

NWR