Football: Injuries erode Keegan's squad

IN CASE he was in any doubt, Kevin Keegan found out over the weekend what it is like to be England coach when he was hit by a string of withdrawals from the squad for Wednesday's friendly against Hungary in Budapest.

Going into the second game in his short-term tenure as national coach, Keegan had agreed not to select David Beckham, Gary Neville, Tony Adams and Ray Parlour after consulting with their respective managers, Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, about which players needed to be rested.

Now his plans have been thrown into further disarray by the loss through injury of the Manchester United pair, Andy Cole and Paul Scholes, the Tottenham captain Sol Campbell, Gareth Southgate of Aston Villa, Graeme Le Saux of Chelsea and Leeds United's 19-year-old defender Jonathon Woodgate. Last night Keegan, having lost six of the 22-man squad he named on Thursday, was considering calling up replacements.

United confirmed that Cole and Scholes had been withdrawn because of knee and ankle injuries respectively after yesterday's 1-1 draw at Elland Road. Cole played the whole game and scored United's 56th-minute equaliser, while Woodgate suffered an injury to his right knee trying to block his shot. Scholes only appeared for the final six minutes as a substitute for Beckham.

Campbell, who had expressed concern about going to Budapest while the Nato air strikes against Serbian targets continued in neighbouring Yugoslavia, is carrying a hamstring injury and was withdrawn after Saturday's 2-1 defeat by West Ham.

George Graham, alarmed by Tottenham's jaded performance, is upset that Keegan did not consult other Premiership managers, including himself, before announcing his selection. "I can see why the top clubs in the Premier League didn't want their players picked for the Hungary game but they shouldn't be the only clubs to be considered," Graham said.

Le Saux has a knee injury and did not play in Chelsea's goalless draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough yesterday while Southgate played in Villa's 2-0 win over Forest but has withdrawn because of an ankle injury.

The Northern Ireland manager Lawrie McMenemy has lost seven players for tomorrow's friendly against Canada at Windsor Park. Steve Morrow, Keith Gillespie, Damien Johnson, Neil Lennon and Alan Fettis have all withdrawn with injuries while McMenemy has also allowed the Bournemouth striker Stephen Robinson and Watford defender Peter Kennedy to stay at their clubs.

Such are McMenemy's problems that three players - Aidan Davison, Gerry Taggart and Jim Magilton - have cried off from his standby list. Magilton, the Ipswich playmaker, would have been called up to the squad, only for him to pull out with a hamstring injury.

McMenemy has called up four players, including the Irish League pair Rory Hamill of Glentoran and Linfield's Glenn Ferguson. His other two new personnel are Darren Patterson and Under-21 international Paul McVeigh, of Tottenham.

McMenemy was thus forced to postpone yesterday's training session, rescheduled for this morning at Newforge on the outskirts of Belfast.