Fratton Faithful takes a look at all the English players at Pompey and assesses their chances of making it into Steve McClaren's side.
David James
Formerly England's number 1; David James has found himself falling from the top of the England goalkeeping pile, to out of the picture completely. Steve McClaren has left the door open for James but his insistance to pick Chris Kirkland, Scott Carson and Ben Foster ahead of him as understudy to Paul Robinson would clearly indicate that David has little chance of getting back into the set-up as McClaren's youth policy would not include someone who will be 38 by Euro 2008.
The only way I could see James getting back into the side is if there's an injury to Paul Robinson and the Pompey number 1 has a good season. I personally don't rate Kirkland or Carson that highly at all and Foster would be too inexperienced for a major European qualifier. Whilst I can see Kirkland and Carson getting the nod ahead of James should Robinson get injured, you never know.
Jamie Ashdown
Poor Jamie Ashdown. He was once tipped as a possible England goalkeeper after making his Pompey debut two seasons ago but Zajec and Perrin's faith in foreign "talent" and Redknapp's faith in experience has now made Jamie Ashdown third choice at Pompey. Ashdown needs to get regular first-team football before an England call-up can even be thought about. Jamie has expressed his desire to move away if it means being involved with the first team and it wouldn't surprise me to see him leave in January.
Sol Campbell
Having signed Campbell whilst he was in the England set-up, it was inevitable that Steve McClaren would drop him from the side as he plumps for youth ahead of experience. Unfortunately for Sol, unlike the goalkeeping position England have a plethora of quality centre-backs available for selection such as Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Jamie Carragher, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate whilst there's also young defenders in Michael Dawson and Anton Ferdinand continuing to improve. Unfortunately, it would take an incredible turn of fate for Campbell to be selected for England again.
As Tony Adams has said however. Campbell not playing for England will only benefit Pompey as there's no chance of Sol getting injured whilst away in some obscure eastern European country.
Linvoy Primus
As much as Fratton Park chants "Linvoy for England" it would be a miracle to see Primus in an England shirt. I'm sure all Pompey fans would love to see him play for his country but at 33 it's not gonna happen is it? If only Linvoy was 15 years younger...
Glen Johnson
OK so he's strictly a Chelsea player but the whole point of him joining Pompey on loan was to get some first team action in England as he is currently out of favour with Jose Mourinho. Touted as a future England international Johnson could still become Gary Neville's natural successor as England are severely lacking in the right-back position with Jamie Carragher having to fill in there when Neville was injured.
Who knows? If Johnson carries on his good form for Pompey he may recieve a call-up considering he's still young and if Jose doesn't want him back, no doubt Harry will take an interest in him. There's a fair chance Glen could be the next Pompey player to play for England, even if we don't own him!
Andy Griffin
Recently extended his loan spell at Stoke. No further explanation needed.
Matthew Taylor
An interesting one. England have always had a problem on the left but Joe Cole seems to have solved that problem despite not being a "true" left-footer. McClaren favourite Stewart Downing is next in line for this position but in my opinion although Downing has an excellent cross Taylor has more pace and is far better defensively. Unfortunately for Taylor all of England's left-sided players are of a similar age to him but he can improve and should he have an excellent season with Pompey then who knows? Either way, currently he isn't going to get in because of McClaren's favourtism towards Downing, whether he is a better player or not.
Sean Davis
When Davis was young, he was said by some to be a certain England international and a move to Spurs from Fulham. However injuries have hampered his chances of playing for England again. I like Sean Davis. Honest player who does a great job of breaking up the play in midfield and he has a decent pass on him too. A real unsung hero for Pompey but even he would admit that he, and the team would need to have an outstanding season for him to be considered for England again. That's if he isn't dropped for Manuel Fernandes of course...
Gary O'Neil
I'm probably not the only one who believes that out of all of our English players, Gary has the best chance of making the England squad. Our player of the season by a mile last season hasn't had the best start but showed what he was capable of against Spurs last Sunday. Once Gary gets over his ankle injury I'm sure we will see him continue to develop into the player we know he can be.
There's just one small hurdle that stands in the way between O'Neil and an England call-up. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Scott Parker, Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Nigel Reo-Coker are all ahead of Gary in the England pecking order. Whilst I believe Carrick and Reo-Coker to be hugely over-rated and that Gary is at least as good as these players it'll be hard for Gary to get ahead of these players in the queue unless he performs this season.
One thing going for Gary is that he is only 23 and if he continues his development he is in with as good a shout as the players in that list for making the Euro 2008 and even World Cup 2010 squad. (bar Gerrard and Lampard who are obviously mainstays despite having no chemistry together at all.) Another thing that could work in Gario's favour is that he can play on the right and look comfortable there despite his favoured position being in the centre. The only other current England player who can play in both the centre and on the right and look comfortable is Steven Gerrard. Therefore Gary's versatility could be a plus-point for getting into the national team.
All in all, the first thing Gary has to do is have another outstanding season at Portsmouth Football Club. If he can have an even better season than last then he'll surely have to be knocking on the door of McClaren's England dressing room.
David Thompson
Thompson was once an England player until injuries ruined his chance of ever bearing the three lions on his shirt again. Highly doubtful he'll be in with a sniff of the England squad for the rest of his career after such a torrid time out of the game with various injury problems.
Andrew Cole
He's 35 and hasn't played for England for a long long time. No chance of getting in even if he hadn't retired from international football.
So there you have it. My take on which of our players stands a chance of getting into the England team. Of course it might not be down to the player as to whether he gets into the squad, it could just be because he plays for such an over-looked club as Portsmouth. The only current England player who isn't owned by a traditionally "big" club is Darren Bent and he's arguably only in the team because Michael Owen is a long term injury.
It begs the question, when will we next see a Pompey player in the England side?