31-05-07

England manager Steve McClaren is considering employing Ledley King as a defensive midfielder against Estonia with the barely-fit-again Michael Owen operating as a lone striker.

The Tottenham centre-half, used as a midfielder by Sven-Goran Eriksson two years ago in a friendly against Argentina, lined-up as part of a five-man midfield in training on Tuesday. Michael Carrick, the obvious replacement for the injured Owen Hargreaves, was overlooked as McClaren opted to augment the midfield used by Eriksson at last summer's World Cup with the Spurs skipper.

In a separate training exercise, McClaren deployed his troops in a conventional 4-4-2 formation, with David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole behind a front pairing of Owen and Alan Smith.

It remains to be seen which particular formation the England boss intends to use against Brazil on Friday night with McClaren once again stressing the importance of having "a plan B or an alternative" during his press conference. While much of that discourse centred on the recall of Beckham, it is the use of Owen which could prove the biggest talking point over the coming week.

The striker is not physically suited to the role of a lone frontman, and his fitness is still questionable after playing just four games since suffering knee ligament damage last June. Against such weak opponents as Estonia, who have conceded ten goals without scoring one in reply in their five European Championship qualifiers to date, playing King rather than offering Owen support would be a much-derided act of unnecessary conservatism.