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Gabriel Agbonlahor has been called up as Bent's replacement, but the Aston Villa man is lacking in confidence at the moment and suffering from a terrible run of form. One goal in 17 games is hardly the kind of record you'd want to from a player about to spearhead England's attack in such a crucial fixture.

But what were the other options? James Beattie has done well enough since moving to Stoke City and Kevin Davies regularly does a decent job for Bolton, but neither are good enough to hold their own at international level. 

Michael Owen may once have been world class, or at least close to that, but he is miles away at the moment and has deservedly been overlooked.

Increasingly, it appears that Rooney apart - some of the time - England simply do not boast anyone in the same class as the likes of Spain's Fernando Torres.