IZZET MUZZY FOR ENGLAND?

Apart from the left side, the biggest problem he seems to have is who to play in the centre of midfield. After trying several combinations, the England coach seems no nearer to finding the right blend.

This means that forthcoming friendlies will be a vital time in which Keegan can experiment to discover the best combination.

Veterans Dennis Wise, Paul Ince, David Batty and Tim Sherwood will all be pressing their claims, while Jamie Redknapp, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt will all be hopeful of earning a place in the squad.

On the fringes Lee Bowyer and Frank Lampard will be pressing for inclusion, but according to Carling Opta`s statistics Muzzy Izzet has the best claim of all.

The Leicester midfield player has scored more goals than all of his rivals apart from Tim Sherwood, who has matched the Fox`s seven strikes. And, Izzet has the most accurate shooting, with 65% of all his efforts hitting the target.

The former Chelsea player also offers defensive options. He has won more tackles than any of his rivals and has been successful with a higher proportion of his challenges too, winning the ball on 65% of occasions. In addition, Izzet has made 54 defensive clearances and 18 blocks - both figures higher than any of his competitors for the midfield berth.

And given the amount of work he has put in to help his defence, the feisty midfield man has a better disciplinary record than all of the other main contenders. He has been booked just three times this season and only Nicky Butt can match his low total of 15 fouls, despite having played around twice as much Premiership football as the United man.

Kevin Keegan has so far resisted the clamour for Izzet`s inclusion in the squad, but if Muzzy keeps up his form in the second half of the season, the England boss would be foolish to ignore the Leicester man`s claims.

Rob Bateman