Hope rising in Anderton country

Ian Ridley says England's future could turn on the Spur of the moment

Although many more do not, some players take instantly to the international stage, overcoming the nerves, tuning in to the pace, daring to attempt things with the ball; just look- ing like they belong. Darren Anderton is some player.

Terry Venables's first match as England coach was also Anderton's first for his country. Against Denmark at Wembley in March 1994, Anderton immediately illustrated himself a Venables player: industrious and inventive. "The most impressive international debut I have ever seen," declared his then Tottenham manager, Ossie Ardiles, who saw Diego Maradona's.

Such a memory is why Venables has, without hesitation, recalled Anderton to his squad for next Saturday's match against Hungary at Wembley; though at Newcastle this Sunday he looked worn during the third of three comeback games in a week following injury problems lasting nine months and taking in operations on a hernia, scarred muscle and a cyst. A week in Portugal should have aided the recuperation process.

One can almost hear the objections up North; more special treatment for another Spurs player in the Venables regime. It is to ignore, though, that Alex Ferguson has tried to buy him for Manchester United and, more important, that he is a player with a wide range of attacking skills, his versatility making him an attractive prospect for a serious championship campaign.

"He's one of those naturally fit players who is ready quite quickly once the injury has healed," Venables said. "I have no doubts about his ability and I know he will be physically tough enough to cope. He has good stamina.

"He's a bright player, adaptable and alert. The way he adapted to international football before his injury was a real plus for us. He made goals, he scored goals and his all-round contribution was excellent. It might have surprised people who weren't that familiar with him but I always knew. From the first time I saw Darren I thought he had the potential to be an international footballer. He can carry on where he left off, getting into those wide areas for us or he can be just as effective through the middle."

Anderton became a Venables favourite in the 1991-92 season when he was an outstanding figure in the young Portsmouth team which deserved, but failed on penalties, to beat Liverpool in an FA Cup semi-final. Soon after that, Venables, then Tottenham's chief executive, asked the Pompey manager, Jim Smith, for a price. "No, not that one," he replied when told, but the two eventually settled on pounds 1.75m.

At first, Anderton was overawed by White Hart Lane, his confidence visibly low as he struggled to settle, the ball following him around as it does with a cricket fielder having a bad day. Coltish and leggy, he looked clumsy. Moving away from home into an unsuitable flat and a hernia injury were factors.

The less-than-flattering assessment of the Portsmouth scout who found him, Dave Hurst, was looking accurate: "He couldn't run, couldn't tackle and was all arms and legs. He got knocked off the ball easily and didn't dominate games." Then, after Christmas 1992, the second - crucial - part of Hurst's judgement of a skinny kid in whom he could see potential began to be seen as the man grew: "But he could pass the ball perfectly."

Portsmouth turned him into a right winger, to which he easily adapted, unlike the right-back position he was asked to fill at a Scottish schoolboys trial, for which he qualified by parentage. Venables, and then Ardiles, continued to use him wide on the right although he always looked more than a touchline-hugger. With less creative talent at his disposal, Gerry Francis has often taken to using him more centrally.

"It's developed my game, things like tackling and reading of the game," Anderton himself says. "When I was a kid I always played central midfield anyway. Glenn Hoddle was one of my favourite players.

"I like to think of myself as more of a playmaker than an out-and-out winger. Being a wide man is sometimes a horrible position because you might not get a kick for 15 or 20 minutes and you're relying on other people to get you the ball. Gerry advised me to play in a more central position where I can be more involved."

At one point, possibly before he fully got to work with Venables at England squad sessions, Anderton was a 4-4-2 man, "where you play with wingers, create lots of chances and everyone knows what they're doing. Some of the others are a bit complicated." Now, with adaptability the buzz word, he looks ideally suited to the flexible formations that Venables favours.

Indeed, the coach is probably already assigning Anderton the role being vacated next Saturday by Paul Gascoigne, who will be playing for Rangers in the Scottish Cup final, thereby retaining Steve Stone, whose busy talents are useful but who does not possess the same dribbling skills and vision of Anderton.

Though Anderton's subtle dead-ball skills are certain to be seen centrally, one hopes, too, that his crossing ability, which his Tottenham team-mate Teddy Sheringham describes as the best in the Premiership, will not go to waste. When all is in place, after England's trip to China and Hong Kong, for Switzerland at Wembley on 8 June, we may well see Anderton and not Stone starting.

Venables is likely to persist next Saturday with his three men at the back, one of whom should be Tony Adams, who came through Paul Merson's testimonial at Highbury last Wednesday comfortably enough. It looked significant that Adams played on the right of a three-man Arsenal back line; it might have been that Venables asked him to play there so he can retain Mark Wright in the middle after his impressive return against Croatia last month.

Alan Shearer also seems certain to return after his swift recovery following a hernia operation, with Robbie Fowler probably given a place on the substitute's bench. With the Hungarians hardly a force in European football at present, and only their colours in common with the 1953 Wembley Magyars, it is a match that should enable Shearer to break his 10-match goal drought. And Anderton to prove he belongs back in England's Euro 96 campaign.

England (possible): Seaman; Adams, Wright, Pearce; Stone, Anderton, Ince, Platt, McManaman; Shearer, Sheringham.