Davies, Rooney in England squad

Davies, Rooney in England squad

Published Oct. 4, 2010 3:27 p.m. ET

Kevin Davies was called up by England for the first time on Monday ahead of next week's European Championship qualifier against Montenegro due to the shortage of fit strikers.

The 33-year-old Davies is included in the 23-man squad after Emile Heskey rejected a chance to come out of international retirement to help ease Fabio Capello's injury crisis.

While Jermain Defoe, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Bobby Zamora are all sidelined, Wayne Rooney makes the cut after being declared fit by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson despite missing Saturday's 0-0 draw at Sunderland as he recovered from an ankle injury.

There are recalls for center backs Rio Ferdinand and John Terry following injuries, while goalkeeper Robert Green and wingers Joe Cole and Aaron Lennon are also back in the squad having been dropped after the team's woeful exit from the World Cup in the second round.

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Despite Ferdinand returning for the first time since being injured ahead of the World Cup, Capello has indicated that Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerard may retain the captain's armband.

Green hasn't been in any of the post-World Cup squads and only featured in the first game in South Africa when his blunder gifted the Americans an equalizer.

Following victories against Bulgaria and Switzerland last month, England - like Montenegro - is chasing a third straight win in Euro 2012 qualifying Group G at Wembley on Tuesday, Oct. 12.

''I saw these two games that they played, they played very well and are a dangerous team,'' Capello said. ''They defend well and are really compact, they play the counter attack really, really fast. The quality of the forwards is really good.''

Capello has included five Manchester City players in the squad: goalkeeper Joe Hart, defender Joleon Lescott, midfielders Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips and winger Adam Johnson.

The six City players who finished the match in Switzerland could have all been called up had James Milner not been suspended and replaced by 18-year-old Jack Wilshere.

And Capello believes that the City contingent could form the foundation of a team that can deliver England's first trophy since 1966, having seen a Spain squad packed with Barcelona players win its first World Cup in June.

Big-spending City went second in the Premier League by beating Newcastle 2-1 on Sunday with Johnson scoring the winner after replacing Barry.

''It's important because they train every day together, they play together regularly in the matches,'' Capello said. ''They know better (their) movement with the ball, without the ball, everything. It's easier to find each other when you play together for the national team. The national teams that won the titles, the World Cup, the Euros, they had something like this.

''Spain for example had players from three teams - seven from Barcelona (David Villa was also in the squad but only started playing for Barcelona after the World Cup), four from Real Madrid and one from Villarreal.''

Four years earlier, Capello's native Italy won the tournament with a similar policy.

''When they won the World Cup they had a lot of players from Juventus, because it is really important to have this group, the spirit and mentality of this group, you hope you can find this in your team,'' Capello said.

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Squad:

Goalkeepers: Robert Green (West Ham), Ben Foster (Birmingham), Joe Hart (Manchester City).

Defenders: Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa).

Strikers: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Kevin Davies (Bolton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

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