Eriksson left to use usual faces on road to Portugal

England coach given limited resources for Euro 2004 campaign as foreigners flood into Premiership

The Premiership managers who have criticised the new system of transfer windows will get no sympathy from Sven Goran Eriksson. As he embarks on the qualifying campaign for the 2004 European Championship, Eriksson knows his choice is always restricted.

When the England coach travels to Upton Park today to watch West Ham play Charlton, ahead of naming his first post-World Cup squad on Monday, he will doubtless be impressed by Frédéric Kanouté. But there will be no last-minute, deadline-busting bid from the Football Association to the French Federation for his services. In international football the only new recruits, barring the occasional second-generation Anglo like Owen Hargreaves, come from the youth system.

Compared to Sammy McIlroy, Mark Hughes and Berti Vogts, Eriksson has a large pool of players to call from but it is not what it was. Of the 594 players in Premiership first team squads a staggering 351 are ineligible for England. The leagues of Italy, Spain, Germany and France feature, respectively, 150, 144, 247 and 168 non-native players. All those countries, especially France, also export many more players than the three Englishmen (Hargreaves, Steve McManaman and Vinny Samways) currently playing in major leagues abroad.

To exacerbate the problem the successful clubs tend to have the highest concentration of non-English players. The four Champions' League representatives, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United, have 72 non-English players between them, an average 18 per club. The Premiership's Uefa Cup entrants have similar numbers. The difficulty a young Englishman has in making his mark in these conditions is illustrated by Arsenal's Jermaine Pennant winning 13 England Under-21 caps before his Premiership debut last week.

As Brian Sears' statistics right reveal, just 125 Englishmen have seen Premiership action this season. The only consolation is that once chosen by their clubs the chances of England following suit are high. Two-thirds of the 125 have been seen at close hand by Eriksson. Forty-six have been called up by the senior team. A further 38 have played for the Under-21s since Eriksson arrived in January of last year.

Thus, when Eriksson and Tord Grip, who sees Birmingham City play Leeds United today then joins his boss at Chelsea v Arsenal tomorrow, choose their squad for next Saturday's friendly with Portugal at Villa Park there will be few candidates unfamiliar to them. Not that they need many new faces. The World Cup squad was a youthful one and with even Martin Keown retracting his apparent retirement from international football all remain in the frame. In addition, Steven Gerrard and Danny Murphy are fit again, though their return is offset by injuries to Wes Brown, Paul Scholes, Robbie Fowler and Nicky Butt. Butt may recover but further drop-outs are likely.

Injured players may not be the only absentees, however. While Eriksson has said he will remain loyal to David Seaman, 39 next month, the 36-year-olds, Keown and Teddy Sheringham, may be discarded. Nigel Martyn, on the bench at Leeds, should find he is also replaced by Paul Robinson at international level. Eriksson has been impressed by the athletic and muscular goalkeeper since he kept a clean sheet for Leeds at Lazio soon after his 21st birthday.

As Gary Neville is still out, and Jamie Carragher on the bench at Liverpool, Phil Neville could be recalled for Brown. Alternatively, Charlton's Luke Young, an Under-21 regular, may grasp today's chance to impress. With John Terry and Ledley King yet to play, Jonathan Woodgate or Ugo Ehiogu are in line to replace Keown. Alan Smith, having started the season brightly, will come in for Fowler with Sheringham under threat from Jermain Defoe and Nicky Barmby.

It is in midfield that Eriksson has the most difficult choices. As well as Gerrard and Murphy Eriksson must also consider Frank Lampard, who has responded superbly from his omission from the World Cup squad, Michael Carrick, the uncapped David Dunn and, in a heartwarming return to form and fitness, Jamie Redknapp.

Whoever is called needs to take their chance because there will not be as many chances as before. Eriksson and the FA have come to a quid pro quo agreement with the clubs over friendlies. England will play less matches – this autumn they have forgone the chance to play in August and November. In return, Eriksson will not make 11 substitutions but can give most players a full game.

Relaxed after a summer which he managed to have the occasional day without paparazzi attention Eriksson is, said Adam Crozier, fired once more with enthusiasm. "Sven is very upbeat," said the FA's chief executive. "As soon as the World Cup was over he was thinking of 2004, of what he had learned from the World Cup."

Responding to suggestions that the focus on his private life was becoming too much for Eriksson, Crozier added: "I was not and am not in the slightest bit worried he would quit. I've no concern that the intensity would be too much." Since the World Cup the media opinion of Eriksson has been revised again with the jury sent back out to reconsider after first returning a more xenophobic verdict than a gooey-eyed one. At the FA, said Crozier, opinion remained positive.

"In 18 months we have gone from the bottom of our World Cup qualifying group to the quarter-finals," Crozier said. "Having got that far there is, for everybody, a sense of a missed opportunity. No one doubted that the winner of Brazil-England had a very good chance of going a long way. But as a result of the last year the players know if they play to the best of their ability they can beat teams like Argentina and Germany."

After naming the squad Eriksson and Grip will travel to Anfield to watch Liverpool play Newcastle on Monday night then take in Manchester United v Middlesbrough on Tuesday. They will begin working with the squad at Aston Villa's training ground on Wednesday.

The Portugal match is a warm-up for October's qualifying double-header against Slovakia, in Bratislava, and Macedonia at Southampton. England will require six points from those matches to build pressure on group seeds Turkey. The 2004 European Championship have long been identified as England's best chance of a first triumph since 1966. It is time for those ambitions to start being realised.

Four to watch: England's young pretenders

The goalkeeper: Paul Robinson (Leeds)

Seized the opportunity afforded by Nigel Martyn's reluctance to tour Australia and, with Richard Wright's early form indifferent, can replace Martyn in the national set-up. Age 22.

The defender: John Terry (Chelsea)

Injured at present but at least eligible again after acquittal in recent court case. Commanding centre-half who will hope to break through when fit. Ironically, Jonathan Woodgate is the 21-year-old's main rival.

The midfielder: David Dunn (Blackburn)

Under consideration before the World Cup and could well feature in Monday's squad. The 22-year-old, who can play in the centre or on the flanks, showed leadership and an eye for goal with David Platt's junior side.

The striker: Jermain Defoe (West Ham )

Five goals for the Under-21s last season, and 14 for West Ham, confirmed the goalscoring promise he showed on loan at Bournemouth. Still only 19 but will expect to make the senior squad at some stage this season.

The multi-national Premiership

Of the 314 players who have appeared in Premiership matches this season, only 125 have been English. The players come from a remarkable 51 different nations and 205 of them are full internationals

Number of English players who have played in Premiership matches this season

10: Charlton Athletic.

8: Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United.

7: Everton, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur.

6: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Southampton, Sunderland.

5: Liverpool, Manchester City.

4: Manchester United.

2: Chelsea, Fulham.

Number of full internationals who have appeared in the Premiership this season

14: Liverpool, Manchester United.

13: Aston Villa, Leeds.

12: Arsenal, Chelsea.

11: Manchester City, Sunderland, Tottenham.

10: Everton, Middlesbrough.

9: Birmingham, Bolton, Newcastle, Southampton, West Ham.

8: Blackburn, Charlton.

7: Fulham.

6: West Bromwich.

Nationalities of this season's Premiership performers

England (125), Rest of Europe (95), Republic of Ireland (23), Africa (15), South America (12), Wales (10), Scotland (8), West Indies (7), Australia (6), Northern Ireland (5), North America (4), Far East (3), Israel (1).

Countries with most internationals on view in the Premiership so far this season

England (46), Republic of Ireland (22), France (13), Wales (10), Denmark (8), Sweden (8), Netherlands (7), Norway (7), Scotland (7), Australia (6), Northern Ireland (6), Cameroon (4), Finland (4).

Statistics compiled by Brian Sears