Capello leaves out Beckham

12 April 2012

David Beckham has been left out of England manager Fabio Capello's first squad but Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor has been included.

Capello has told Beckham - who was hoping to win his 100th cap - that he only wants players who are match-fit.

Apart from Agbonlahor the other new face in the 30-man provisional squad to face Switzerland in a friendly international at Wembley on Wednesday is Villa team-mate Curtis Davis - currently on loan from West Brom.

Other inclusions of interest are Villa winger Ashley Young, who made his England debut against Austria in November, and Blackburn's David Bentley, who profits from Beckham's absence.

Capello said: "I know there has been a lot of discussion about David Beckham. The reason that David is not in the squad is because he has not had any real match practice since playing in November.

"When I spoke with David on the phone yesterday I advised him that he is still part of my plans and once he is playing regularly in America we will look closely at him again."

He added: "I have selected a squad of 30 players as I think it is important that all the players are equal from the beginning.

"There are a lot of games before we join up and I think it is better that we are prepared for any injuries. This way we are not expecting to call players up as late replacements when I name a 23-man squad on Saturday evening.

"We will use the time between now and our first World Cup qualifying match in September to look at the players and find the best formula for the England team. I will also look at players who have not been included in the squad this time.

"I have also worked very closely with Stuart Pearce on squad selection and there are some players like Joe Hart, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott and David Wheater who are with the Under-21s this time because they have a very important qualification game against Ireland on Tuesday. In the future these are players that could feature in the senior squad."

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