Sinclair out of England qualifier but Upson is fit

Trevor Sinclair is out of England's Euro 2004 qualifying match against Slovakia on Wednesday after failing to recover from a dead leg.

The West Ham midfielder suffered the injury at England's La Manga training camp last week, ruling him out of Tuesday's 2-1 win over Serbia and Montenegro. And, despite intense treatment, the 30-year-old has not recovered.

There was some good news for the England coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, though, with Matthew Upson expected to return to training this weekend after suffering a similar injury against the east Europeans and should be fit for the Group Seven game at the Riverside.

Upson's recovery will be a relief to Eriksson, who was left with three fit centre-halves after losing Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand to a knee injury following last month's friendly victory over South Africa. The Birmingham City defender did well enough on his first England start and is expected to hold off the challenge of John Terry and win the right to partner Gareth Southgate at the heart of England's defence.

Although Upson had responded well to treatment, a Football Association spokesman said that Sinclair was unlikely to be fit until the early part of next week, so Wednesday would be too soon to play.

It leaves Eriksson with 23 players to prepare to face Slovakia, who play Turkey in Bratislava tonight.