Crouch: ‘do not make Carson the scapegoat’
Carson, who is on loan to Aston Villa this season, was given his competitive debut for his country in the crunch qualifier with Croatia at Wembley and his error gifted Niko Kranjcar the opening goal in his side’s 3-2 win.
But Crouch, himself the victim of the England boo boys when first breaking into the side, has seen at first hand Carson’s abilities with club and country and has no doubt he can recover from this setback. The 26-year-old said: “Scott is a fantastic keeper and also a young keeper and, although he will be disappointed with Wednesday, I’ve trained and played with him every day and I know just how good he is.
“I am sure he will be an England number one in a few years to come.
“Hopefully, people don’t get on his back too much. I wouldn’t wish fans turning on him. He is a great lad and a fantastic keeper.”
Meanwhile Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas has backed team-mate Paul Robinson to bounce back from this international disappointment and force his way back into the England side.
Robinson was not even on the bench for the disastrous defeat to Croatia at Wembley, a result of his loss of form for club and country.
High-profile blunders starting last season have seen the 28-year-old goalkeeper under intense scrutiny, but Jenas believes Robinson has what it takes to emerge from the first crisis of his career.
“People have been looking closely at Robbo this year, but he is big enough and strong enough to deal with it, so I am sure he will be fine.”
Robinson’s form has been part of Spurs’ poor start to the season and they go to West Ham on Sunday looking to edge closer to mid-table.
“As a team we haven’t performed to what we know we can,” Jenas said. “Robbo knows he can do better, as all the players know. Any problems we have as a team we deal with together. There’s been no finger pointing.”
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