England coach Fabio Capello is plotting for the future as he runs the rule over a trio of Aston Villa players and Tottenham’s Tom Huddlestone.
Ashley Young came on as a second half substitute in England’s 6-0 romp against Andorra in midweek, while his Aston Villa team mates James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor are also on the Italian’s radar.
Capello revealed that Huddlestone nearly made the squad for Wednesday's World Cup qualifer only for injury to strike.
The England coach is earmarking the final two World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus, if England have already qualified for next year’s finals, to give some young players a go.
“I am really happy for Ashley Young. He played the first game with me, against Switzerland, but did not do that well,” Capello said in the Daily Mirror.
“Against Andorra he played with confidence, like he does for Aston Villa. The other times, in training and games, he played with fear. He was not the same player.
“I spoke to him and said, ‘you have to play the way you do with your team’. It is important to have another player who can play at the moment. “Milner was here with us and there is Agbonlahor also. I follow all the young ones because I always speak with Stuart Pearce.
“And I was thinking about choosing Huddlestone for the last squad and was interested in him but he was injured.”