Eriksson hit by defensive crisis

Eriksson is still confident David Beckham will be able to start the match despite being substituted in Real Madrid's weekend victory against Espanyol.

"It was a small injury but it shouldn't be a problem for Wednesday," revealed the England coach, who will also have a cautionary word with Wayne Rooney over his temperament.

Eriksson may decide to try Shaun Wright-Phillips in the problematic left midfield spot or abandon his favoured 4-4-2 system and give him a free role in midfield.

Stuart Pearce is uniquely qualified to assess the international potential of Wright-Phillips. After all, he spent 13 years marking the best right wingers in the world and has, more recently, been involved in coaching the talented youngster now threatening Beckham's place.

As one of Kevin Keegan's coaching assistants at Manchester City, Pearce has followed the development of Wright-Phillips and is convinced the 23-year-old is good enough to play international football.

"Shaun can play anywhere," said Pearce, who played 78 times for England. "Anyone who has watched Manchester City knows that Shaun can play anywhere along the right, including right-back, up front and in central midfield. If the decision was up to me I'd play him wide on the right."

Keegan added: "Shaun could play on the left side. He's played all over the field for us. But he deserves to be in and once he gets in he'll stay." Meanwhile, Andrew Johnson left the Selhurst Park changing rooms on Saturday convinced his England chance had gone.

The striker apologised to his Palace team-mates for his unusually wasteful display in their 1-0 defeat by Bolton and left his boots behind.

With a scout for Eriksson at the game and no notification of a callup, the next place Johnson thought he would need them would be at the club's training ground.

Fortunately for him, someone suggested he took them out of the transpor tat ion skip headed for Beckenham because he just might need them on England duty.

"I was sure I wasn't going to get the call," said Johnson after being included in the squad.

"In the England Under-16, 17 and 18 teams, I had always been given advance warning with a letter and an itinerary, so I genuinely thought I had missed out when I hadn't heard anything by Saturday.

"I left my boots in the dressing room after the game because I was sure I wasn't going to get called up. But I decided to go back and get them just in case.

"It's just as well I did because I've worn them in."

Johnson, the leading English scorer in the Premiership with 15 goals, found out he had earned his first call-up by seeing the squad on TV. The 23-year-old was then inundated with calls from well-wishers, including his tearful mum, Sheila, and the nerves set in.

He said: "I saw David Beckham's name come up in the squad list and it made me realise there is millions of pounds worth of talent in the squad. To know you will be training with so many world-class players is an amazing feeling.

"I'm not expecting to play and I'm just going to enjoy the experience."