Smalling and Jones in line for England debuts in Sofia
Published 22:59 29/08/11 By Martin Lipton
Fabio Capello is set to make Sir Alex Ferguson's point for him by naming FOUR Manchester United players in the team to play Bulgaria on Friday.
In-form forward duo Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young have been lined up to replicate their Old Trafford roles in the must-win Euro 2010 qualifier in Sofia.
But Capello is also looking to give first caps to Chris Smalling at right-back and Phil Jones alongside skipper John Terry at the heart of the back-four, in a further sign that he is building for next summer's finals in Poland and Ukraine.
And Capello's decision to select five United players - the quartet named above and uncapped midfielder Tom Cleverley would have been joined by Danny Welbeck had the striker not picked up a hamstring injury in Sunday's rout of Arsenal - will be further ammunition for Feguson's argument with the FA.
Capello, meanwhile, who has to decide whether to play a midfield trio or go with a more traditional four-man middle line, has targeted maximum points from the back-to-back games.
England need seven points from their last three games to be certain of taking top spot in Group G ahead of surprise rivals Montenegro, who they meet in their final match next month.
"Bulgaria and Wales are really important games for us," said Capello.
"We play the last game against Montenegro and need to be top of the group before that one because it will be a really difficult game. The stadium, the pitch, the fans will be really strong, which is why we need to do well in our next matches.
"In our last match against Bulgaria [a 4-0 English win almost exactly 12 months ago], we played a good game, but they got some chances as well. They have a lot of quality and are good with free-kicks and shots from distance.
"In fact, although we scored four goals, we actually had more chances against Montenegro, when we didn't score. It was just that the keeper made the difference."
