Ashley Cole set to win 100th England cap

The 32-year-old Chelsea defender was named by coach Roy Hodgson in a 24-man squad after missing the last match in Sweden in November through injury.

“Reaching 100 matches is an incredible milestone,” Hodgson said. “He deserves an enormous pat on the back.”

But Cole is unlikely to mark his milestone match by captaining England due to a long-standing reluctance to speak to the media following some much-publicised incidents off the pitch.

From his short-lived marriage to pop star Cheryl Cole amid front-page allegations of infidelity to accidentally shooting an intern at Chelsea with an air rifle, the left-back has rarely been out of the headlines.

For some fans, he has never shaken off a perceived greed when rejecting Arsenal’s contract offer before moving across London to Chelsea in 2006.

“Reputations are forged in different ways I suppose. I judge people on how I find them,” Hodgson said.

“He is a very serious footballer and a very nice person to deal with on the footballing front. He is a shy person.”

“He prefers his football to do the talking and is quite happy for people to judge him on that basis,” Hodgson added.

“Unfortunately, the profile players have these days means they will be judged in other areas.

“That doesn’t affect me and hopefully it won’t affect him on Wednesday. I am expecting people to give him the credit he deserves.”

Squad: Butland (Birmingham) Hart (Manchester City); Baines (Everton), Cahill (Chelsea), Cole (Chelsea), Jagielka (Everton), G Johnson (Liverpool), Lescott (Manchester City), Smalling (Manchester United), Walker (Tottenham); Carrick (Manchester United), Cleverley (Manchester United), Gerrard (Liverpool), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Milner (Manchester City), Osman (Everton), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Walcott (Arsenal), Wilshere (Arsenal); Defoe (Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United), Sturridge (Liverpool), Welbeck (Manchester United).