Sven waiting on Beckham injury

Published on Thursday 4 September 2003 01:00

ENGLAND captain David Beckham was today hoping to provide his country with the ideal boost ahead of the Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia by proving his fitness.

Beckham’s groin injury, which he sustained during a game for Real Madrid on Tuesday night, was assessed by the England medical staff last night.

Indeed, with Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand having already been ruled out of Saturday night’s game, the update on the England captain’s fitness was eagerly awaited.

Football Association head of media Adrian Bevington revealed: "David has been assessed by the England medical team and has a tightening in his groin, but it is not a pulled muscle.

"It is believed to be a minor injury and our medical staff are quietly confident that he will be available for Saturday’s game.

"Clearly, they will assess the injury before training, with a view to making a decision on how fully he can participate in the session."

Beckham had revealed after the game at Villarreal that "I have a slight groin strain so we will have to wait and see, but I don’t think that it will be a problem."

He was, therefore, hoping to take a significant part in this morning’s session at Manchester United’s former training ground, The Cliff.

However, he could always leave his participation in a full training session until tomorrow, once the squad have flown to Macedonia.

Despite Ferdinand’s confidence that he would recover from a kidney complaint in time, he was advised otherwise by the England medical staff.

Bevington added: "After talks between the medical staff at Manchester United and England, Rio has been ruled out of the Macedonia game.

"He could not play in the game or travel. He will, therefore, be reassessed this weekend with a view to potentially being available for the match against Liechtenstein next Wednesday."

That leaves John Terry, who made his full England debut against Croatia last month, in the frame to partner Sol Campbell in central defence in Skopje, with Matthew Upson still in reserve.

In midfield, the likely candidates to replace Scholes and Gerrard are Frank Lampard and Owen Hargreaves, who, along with Beckham, could form a midfield trio slightly ahead of Nicky Butt in the holding role. Up front, Wayne Rooney is the favourite to partner Michael Owen, while Gary and Phil Neville will presumably contest the right-back role, with Ashley Cole at left-back and David James in goal.

Meanwhile, James Beattie is convinced he can become an England regular by staying at unfashionable Southampton.

Saints fans always believed Matt Le Tissier never gained the international recognition he deserved because he refused to leave the south coast club, while Wayne Bridge opted to leave for Chelsea this summer in an effort to further his England claims.

"I am a Southampton player and I am in the squad, that proves it can be done," said Beattie. "By nature, I am a confident person and I never doubted I could score goals in the Premiership providing I kept clear of injuries.

"I know this season will be a lot harder than the last one and I am aware of the importance of scoring on a consistent basis. But I honestly feel that provided I stay fit, there won’t be a problem."