I walked out of Jamaica camp, claims King

Marlon King claims it was his decision to leave the Jamaica squad to face England this weekend and said he still hopes to represent his country in the future.

King will miss tomorrow's final friendly before Sven Goran Eriksson's England team head to the World Cup, with conflicting reasons given for the Watford striker's departure.

While his newly promoted Premiership club Watford have insisted King was booted out because he criticised Jamaica's training facilities during their two-game England tour, reports from the Caribbean claim he launched a volley of abuse at team management at a 2.30am disciplinary meeting after breaking a curfew on Tuesday night.

Charlton's Jason Euell and Jamal Campbell-Rice have also been fined 50 per cent of their match fees after returning to Jamaica's Manchester base later than agreed.

Sheffield Wednesday's Deon Burton has been drafted into the squad but, coming on the back of a 4-1 hammering against Ghana at Leicester on Monday, it hardly suggests England will meet a harmonious Jamaican side in front of a sell-out crowd at Old Trafford this weekend.

"I actually left, I had to leave to clear my head and now I'm getting phone calls and listening to the radio that I've been expelled from the camp," King said. "I spoke to the Jamaican Football Federation president and said, 'If you felt disrespected in any way I apologise, I want to play for my country, if you let me know what the situation is'.

"He said he'd get back to me within an hour but no phone call was received and the next thing I know is when the news and radio say I've been axed. I was never axed. I left the camp. I love playing for Jamaica. I would love to play for my country again but I've been axed unofficially."

Customers at a Salford launderette were astonished when members of the party walked in to wash the squad's kit, according to a report in the Manchester Evening News. The team coach pulled up outside the Leisure Wash launderette on Tuesday and officials went inside with bags of kit.

Council worker Lisa Morris, who was picking up some dry cleaning, said: "It was hilarious. This Jamaican man in a team tracksuit was sat there with a pile of coins asking people how to operate the machines.

"He had the kit going round in the washing machines and couldn't work out how to use them."