Sheringham backs Zamora England calls

Zamora has been in fine form, scoring a stunning free-kick at the weekend (GETTY IMAGES)

Teddy Sheringham feels Fulham striker Bobby Zamora could be a shock inclusion in England's World Cup squad.

Zamora has impressed for Roy Hodgson's men this term and scored the winner in Sunday's win over Birmingham with a fierce free-kick.

"Bobby Zamora has come on the scene, he is scoring goals and playing with a lot of confidence," Sheringham told Press Association Sport.

"Confidence makes the difference. Bobby is at the top of his game and people are talking about him being a candidate.

"There is a chance for everybody and anybody to turn things around, play better and get in the squad."

Sheringham also refuses to accept time has run out for another striker - Manchester United's Michael Owen - to force his way into Fabio Capello's thoughts

"It is still early days, if Michael played the next four or five games and scored three or four goals then all of a sudden he's back in the good books and you'd have him in the squad," said the former Tottenham forward.

"You know he can score goals at the top level, if you give him a half chance he will take it.

"At the moment he is not scoring or playing, but things can change very quickly in football so we'll see."

Sheringham was at Wembley yesterday with former strike partner Alan Shearer as part of the England 2018/2022 bid where Morrisons was announced as a new official partner.

And both feel the recent allegations about players' private lives will not affect morale among the squad in South Africa.

John Terry was sacked as England captain earlier this month following allegations of an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the ex-girlfriend of Wayne Bridge.

Shearer said: "Rightly or wrongly something is always brought up just before a big tournament but I don't see it being a major issue and I don't think it will affect team morale at all."

Sheringham added: "I think there will be uncertainty at the moment but come the summer everything will have died down and it won't matter so much."

Capello named Rio Ferdinand as Terry's successor as skipper and Sheringham feels he will be a similar captain to the Chelsea man.

"There's not a lot of difference between him and Terry," he said. "They are both vocal, good leaders and top players for their clubs so players won't have a problem with either one being captain."

Shearer admits England's hopes of winning in South Africa will depend a lot on the fitness of Wayne Rooney.

"Looking at our team and players then I think we've got decent chance," he said.

"We'll have to beat a Brazil or a Spain along the way but as long as we keep a certain Mr Rooney fit then we've got a good chance."