Venables finds comfort

Short-term inconvenience may lead to long-term gain for Terry Venables. The series of sick-notes arriving at England's Bisham Abbey headquarters may create problems for tomorrow's match with Portugal but are timely in view of the same day's World Cup qualifying draw.

That will be followed by fixture negotiations between England and their opponents, and Venables and the Premier League. This week's withdrawals constitute the most powerful argument there is for weekend breaks before internationals.

Saturday's programme has robbed Venables of Robert Lee, David Platt and, probably, Teddy Sheringham. The loss of Lee and Platt compounds the withdrawal, last week, of Jamie Redknapp and the continued absence of Darren Anderton. With few midfield options left Dennis Wise may be recalled while Paul Gascoigne looks certain to start, despite his sending off.

Indeed, how could Gascoigne be omitted when the captain, Tony Adams, was dismissed 36 minutes before the end of Arsenal's game at Southampton? Lee will join the party but is under orders not to play after injuring a thigh muscle while Sheringham is doubtful after suffering a back problem playing for Spurs against QPR.

"This is what the competition in the squad is all about," Venables said. "We've lost Redknapp, Platt and Lee all from the same area of the team but it opens the door for others. It's the sort of problem we might have to cope with and we'll see if we have the strength to overcome it."

With Gary Pallister already out Gareth Southgate may make a debut in defence or, possibly, in midfield. Another midfield option is to play Graeme Le Saux on the left, an experiment Venables tried with some success in the summer's Umbro Cup. If Sheringham fails to recover Venables could play Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand together. More likely is the return of Nick Barmby, especially as Peter Beardsley looked jaded on Saturday.

n John Sheridan, whose appearance as a substitute for Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday was his first Premiership action since a knee operation six weeks ago, may play for the Republic of Ireland in their European Championship play-off game against the Netherlands on Wednesday. He spoke with Jack Charlton after playing and is due to link up with the Irish squad today.