Robert Green was today training with the England squad after his call-up for Wednesday's match against France in Paris in the wake of Chris Kirkland's withdrawal.
The 28-year-old goalkeeper has been rewarded for his tremendous form of late and had long been tipped by many for an international recall. His only cap to date came in a friendly against Colombia in the United States back in May 2005. He was due to play at the 2006 World Cup before injury dashed his hopes but he has never given up hope of a return to the senior set-up. He will challenge David James and Paul Robinson, the latter himself a late call-up for the injured Scott Carson.
Reflecting on his performance against Everton, which earned him the man of the match award from Setanta Sports, Green said: "It was all right. The conditions were awkward in the first half but they calmed down a bit in the second. I think everyone dug in and did well. It was pleasing just to play a small part in a really good performance." The shot-stopper was "disappointed" to only get a point in the end although added: "Take it with a pinch of salt because you look at going a goal behind after eight minutes, I think it was exactly the same time as we did against Spurs and probably a similar time to Liverpool, so you're fearing the worst slightly."
He paid tribute to the young central defensive partnership of James Tomkins and Anton Ferdinand who held firm after Yakubu's opener to provide the platform for Dean Ashton's equaliser. "After that we really dug in together, sorted ourselves out and Tomka and Anton did tremendously well at the back to hold off the power of the two up front." On Tomkins, he added: "I'm pleased for him because it was a difficult start and he got caught slightly for the goal but that's the Premier League, they get a chance and they hammer it home. It's a steep learning curve after then but other than that he did admirably."
Tomkins played because of a calf injury to Matthew Upson, which has cost him a place alongside Green in Fabio Capello's England squad, having been named in the initial 30-man party last week. The 28-year-old defender, capped eight times, played the full 90 minutes last month in a 2-1 win against Switzerland. However, he has missed the last three West Ham United fixtures - including Saturday's 1-1 draw at Everton.
The club will have two other players on England duty next week, with Tomkins and Junior Stanislas set to play for the U19s in a friendly against Russia at Milton Keynes on Tuesday. Mark Noble has been rested by the U21s for their home friendly against Poland on the same evening.
Also in friendly action this Wednesday are Freddie Ljungberg, who will captain Sweden in a glamour tie against Brazil in a match to be played at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, George McCartney for Northern Ireland at home against Georgia, Jonathan Spector for the US in Poland and John Pantsil who will play for Ghana against Mexico at Fulham's Craven Cottage. On the same day, Lucas Neill and Jack Collison, for Australia in China and Wales U21s in Bosnia-Herzegovina respectively, are the only two players who will be involved in competitive action.