Vassell fears for England place

Darius Vassell fears he will be overlooked for England's Euro 2004 squad after another low-key performance in front of Sven Goran Eriksson in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw at home to Manchester City on Sunday.

The striker had only one chance of note, but scuffed his shot after creating an opening for himself.

Vassell's form has picked up since Christmas with eight goals, but he fears being overtaken by Jermain Defoe, who made a big impact on his England debut against Sweden as an early replacement for the Villa man.

Vassell said: 'It has got the potential to be a great few months if Villa can get into Europe and I can get selected for the European Championship. 'But I am not sure how that will work out now. The England manager was watching the City game and I had a good chance and I messed it up.

'Against Sweden I only got to play for about 10 minutes because of the injury I suffered and it is going to be hard to stay ahead of Defoe and others.'