A King-sized job for Ledley

13 April 2012

Sven-Goran Eriksson is poised to use Tottenham's Ledley King as a makeshift left-back for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan.

The England coach, who will be without captain David Beckham for the match in Baku, could retain the diamond formation to accommodate three strikers, which worked reasonably well in the 2-0 victory over Wales, but he is more likely to revert to a 4-4-2 system.

That would mean a start for Spurs star King, who came on as a second-half substitute at left-back on Saturday, because Eriksson rates the defender particularly highly.

Playing King at full-back would release Ashley Cole to operate on the left side of midfield, with Frank Lampard moving back to his favourite position in the centre.

Eriksson will again be without Chelsea's Wayne Bridge, who has a calf injury, and he must also decide who replaces Beckham on the right, with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Owen Hargreaves the two main contenders.

In a 4-4-2 system, Eriksson would revert to Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney up front, with Tottenham's Jermain Defoe dropped to the bench.

Beckham, who is again at the centre of allegations over his private life, sustained a hairline fracture of the rib in a collision with Wales' Ben Thatcher and could be out for as long as six weeks.

The Real Madrid midfielder, who scored a brilliant second goal for England, has been given 48 hours to rest and will have his injury re-examined by doctors when he returns to Spain on Wednesday.

Real's Dr Luis Serratosa insisted the next few days will be crucial in determining the speed of Beckham's recovery.

"These types of injuries are very uncomfortable and can cause breathing problems," he said. "But on Wednesday David will be in Madrid and will return to training with a light gym session."

Eriksson today refused to condemn his captain but admitted that Beckham's subsequent challenge on Thatcher, which resulted in a yellow card and a one-match suspension, was ill-advised.

But as Beckham would have been unavailable because of injury, he believes the effect of the ban has been minimised.

"It was not a good tackle," said Eriksson. "It cost him a yellow card and he's not available for Wednesday's game but as he wouldn't have been available because of injury, maybe it's a good way of cleaning up the yellow card."

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Chelsea F.c.

David Beckham

David Jones (Footballer)

Frank Lampard

Jermain Defoe

Owen Hargreaves

Shaun Wright-phillips

Tottenham Hotspur

A King-sized job for Ledley

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