Hart Forces His Way Into Capello's Thinking

Manchester City's Joe Hart will be handed a first call-up to the senior England squad for next month's friendly against France after Fabio Capello revealed his frustration at an apparent lack of goalkeeping talent at his disposal.

Capello handed the 37-year-old David James the No1 position for his first match against Switzerland a fortnight ago, with Paul Robinson out of favor at Tottenham Hotspur. Scott Carson of Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic's Chris Kirkland were the other keepers in the squad. The Italian, whose next match is in Paris on March 26, has earmarked Hart as a future inclusion.

The head coach preferred to retain the City goalkeeper in the Under-21 team for their qualifier against the Republic of Ireland with Capello convinced that the youngster would benefit more from competitive action than from a full debut in a friendly.

"Only 38% of the players in the Premier League are English, so the pool is reduced," said the England manager. "I have had to reinstate a 37-year-old goalkeeper but I have spotted one in the Under-21s who is very interesting."

Hart, a £600,000 arrival from Shrewsbury Town 21 months ago, has beaten off the challenge of the experienced Sweden international Andreas Isaksson and the youngster Kasper Schmeichel to earn the No1 jersey at Eastlands. The 20-year-old has been a regular since October and has established himself as the most promising young English goalkeeper.

While James has been the top flight's outstanding English goalkeeper this season, only four other Premier League clubs - Villa, City, Wigan and West Ham - would select English goalkeepers in their strongest sides. The others in the under-21 set-up are the United youth-teamer Tom Heaton and Joe Lewis of Peterborough United.