Wayne ready to bridge any gap

Wayne Bridge is confident he can fill Kieron Dyer's boots on the left-hand side of midfield for England.

The Newcastle midfielder is recovering well from a knee injury sustained against Bridge's Southampton last Saturday but England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is assessing whether to take a risk on his fitness.

West Ham midfielder Joe Cole is also pushing for the starting place but left-footed Bridge believes he is the man for the job.

He said: "I could play in left midfield and handle the situation. I started my career as a left-winger and then manager Dave Jones pushed me to left-back. I have played 30 to 40 games there.

"If you have pace it is an advantage and, of course, having a left foot helps. It's the chance of a lifetime and I'm just going to make sure I go out and enjoy it."

Danny Murphy is another contender for England's problem position and celebrated his call-up yesterday by signing a new five-year contract at Liverpool.

Murphy's joy was tinged with sadness, however, because of the groin injury ruling out team-mate Steven Gerrard.

"I'm thrilled to be going to the World Cup but it's a shame it's at somebody else's expense," he said.

The average age of England's squad is just 26 but goalkeeper David Seaman believes that inexperience could become an asset. He said: "The squad is a young one and you never know what these young players are going to do. They never show signs of nerves and just get on with the job."

Seaman's Arsenal team-mate Freddie Ljungberg will miss Sweden's warm-up match against Paraguay on Friday with a back strain. He said: "If it was a World Cup Final I'd play but I don't want to take any risks so close to the tournament."

Seaman is expecting Ljungberg to be a threat when England meet on 2 June. "Sweden have a red-haired guy who's quite good," he said. "Freddie had a few injuries but he's come back strong and confident."

England meet Argentina on 7 June and the South Americans have left Barcelona striker Javier Saviola out of their squad.

All but two of Marcelo Bielsa's 23-man squad arrived at Lazio's Formello training ground last night, with the remaining places expected to be filled by Cruzeiro defender Juan Pablo Sorin and Bayer Leverkusen wing-back Diego Placente.

That means no place for the 20-year-old Saviola or Boca Juniors playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme.