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Hysen announces his first squad

Buck Hysen has named his first squad as new England manager today for Saturday's friendly clash with Wales.

The Ex Bradford City and Tottenham manager takes control of his first international this weekend as England travel to Cardiff to face Wales in a battle of the British friendly at the Millenium Stadium, And Hysen is taking no chances by naming an almost full strength squad.

It may only be a friendly but Hysen is taking no chances as he looks to begin his England reign with a solid victory.

England are fully expected to win the game but Hysen has stated that they certainly won't be taking Wales lightly. He said " Wales have some world class players in their squad so we certainly won't be under estimating them, You only have to look at the quality of some of their players to see that a victory is by no means a formality. Players like Ryan Giggs, Gary Speed and John Hartson are always going to be a threat and we will have to be on our toes to come away with a good result."

With an almost full strength squad though, England should still win and Hysen knows that.

After years of frustration for English supporters Alain Borl restored a lot of pride to the nation after impressive victories over Belguim and Australia and although these were victories that England were expected to win, Borl gave the players belief again and a marked improvement was evident.

The supporters will be praying that Hysen can continue the good work implimented by Borl as England desperatly need some stability to the international set up. With the World cup qualifyers approaching fast, England need to settle down to some degree of consistancy.

Hysen's first squad, On the whole, Looks extremely strong on paper and offers few suprises, The biggest being the inclusion of young Coventry goalkeeper Nicky Weaver, Weaver has been in terrific form during Coventry's rise to the top of the first division this season and he will be hoping to earn his first cap. Derby keeper Paul Robinson makes way for the youngster despite keeping a clean sheet against Australia a month ago.

Wimbledon keeper Nigel Martin also regains his place after solid performances in the league for Wimbledon. Hysen revealed his reason for picking Martin ahead of West Ham's Richard Wright by saying " I feel we need at least one experianced keeper in the squad and Nigel has been performing as well as any keeper in the league. He may be over 30 but I think he still has a lot to offer England and his recent performances have shown that. Richard is still young and he will get his chance, He is an excellant keeper and I'm sure he will break into the England set up on a regular basis in the future."

Sol Campbell is the only change to the defence that was picked against Australia. Campbell comes in to replace another youngster, Gareth Barry. Hysen said " This was a difficult decision because Gareth has been playing superbly for Tottenham but how do you leave out somebody like Sol Campbell?, He is such a rock at the back and is such a commanding figure that I felt I had to include him. I've spoken to Gareth and explained to him that he will get more chances and he has been very professional about it. He knows he is still very young and has a promising England future ahead of him."

The midfield see's three changes from a month ago. Frank Lampard comes in and may win only his second cap, He replaces the injured Jamie Redknapp who is out for at least two weeks. Nick Barmby comes in for Craig Hignett after impressive performances for Everton. Hignett, Who made his England debut last month will be unhappy to have missed out after continuing to sparkle at Charlton, But Hysen has insisted that it is not the end of a short England career for arguably the suprise player of the season so far.

The final midfield place suprisingly goes to Ray Parlour, Parlour has been one of the main reason's behind Ipswich Town's recent outstanding form but many will still wonder how he has got into the England squad ahead of Paul Scholes. Scholes has not been at his best in recent months but has proved time and time again that he is the man for the big occasion and always comes up with the goods for England.

Three of England's brightest young strikers come into a changed forward line. Kevin Phillips is currently suspended from all competitions and is replaced by Robbie Fowler, Fowler has yet to reproduce the form he showed for Liverpool last season but has been in fine form in recent weeks and Hysen is keen to take a closer look at him.

Arguably the hottest striker in the country at the moment, Francis Jeffers, Comes in for Andy Cole. Jeffers has been free scoring for Coventry this season and has already notched up 6 goals. The young striker has fired Coventry to the top of the first division with his goals this season and Hysen recalls him after Jeffers was excluded from last months squad.

Alain Borl suprised everyone last month by recalling Les Ferdinand to the England set up after almost three years in the international wilderness and despite some good performances for Ipswich, Hysen has decided to go with another in form striker Chris Sutton. Hysen bought Sutton from Coventry on the eve of the transfer deadline whilst Bradford manager and knows all about the ex Blackburn star. Hysen said " Chris has been in outstanding form this season, Both for Bradford and Coventry, He has been playing well consistantly since the tail end of last season and now that he has begun to find the net more, He has become an even better player. Les is a fantastic player but with the World cup qualifyers approaching I feel we need to look at younger strikers. Les knows that he will probably not even be playing when the World cup comes around in 2002 and he understands my decision. Thats not to say that Les will not get another chance for England, If he continues to work hard then I'm sure he will get another chance."

Despite naming a strong squad Hysen will surely be criticised for excluding certain players.

Lee Bowyer has been in terrific form for Coventry but finds himself left out in the cold and along with Gareth Barry, Andy Cole and Paul Scholes being amitted there is also no place for Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer, All experienced internationals who will feel dissapointed not to have been picked.

Hysen was also expected to re-introduce many of the over 30 club to the squad. Paul Gasgoigne has been a revelation for Bradford since his arrival and many say he has been close to his best. Paul Merson is another who has rediscovered his form and has broken into the Manchester Utd first team. Other players who may have been expected to return are Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Dennis Wise and David Seaman.

Hysen's squad though is more than capable of defeating a Wales squad which contains World class players but surely not enough to offer England any real problems.

The full 22 man squad is:

Nicky Weaver ( Coventry City )

Nigel Martin ( Wimbledon )

Ian Walker ( Everton )

Duncan Jupp ( West Ham Utd )

Michael Duberry ( Ipswich Town )

Sol Campbell ( Coventry City )

Gareth Southgate ( Southampton )

Ian Woodgate ( West Ham Utd )

Kieron Dyer ( Wimbledon )

Steven Gerrard ( Arsenal )

Trevor Sinclair ( Wimbledon )

David Beckham ( Wimbledon )

Ray Parlour ( Ipswich Town )

Frank Lampard ( Tottenham )

Darren Anderton ( Wimbledon )

Joe Cole ( Liverpool )

Nick Barmby ( Everton )

Malcolm Christie ( Aston Villa )

Robbie Fowler ( Liverpool )

Francis Jeffers ( Coventry City )

Michael Owen ( Tottenham )

Chris Sutton ( Bradford City )

Stand by players: Paul Robinson ( Derby ), Gary Neville ( Manchester Utd ), Martin Keown ( Bradford City ), Paul Scholes ( Manchester Utd ) and Andy Cole ( Arsenal )