Sven faces difficult choices as Cole injury rocks England

SVEN-GORAN Eriksson was hit by the loss of the “world’s best left-back” as Ashley Cole joined Gary Neville on the sidelines for England’s World Cup qualifier against Austria.

Eriksson is confident Michael Owen will be fit to train tomorrow after being treated for a dead leg, while David Beckham should also take part in that session after staying in Madrid for an extra 24 hours due to an illness affecting one of his sons.

However, just as his five leading central defenders were all fit at once with Eriksson insisting Rio Ferdinand had played well all season despite his apparent loss of form he has injury problems at full-back.