England turn to Crouch for goals

FABIO CAPELLO will place his trust in Peter Crouch tonight as England look to take a giant stride towards next summer’s World Cup in South Africa.

Injuries suffered in the friendly defeat of Slovakia on Saturday that forced Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole to withdraw over the weekend were compounded yesterday when their replacement, Darren Bent, did not even get through the warm-up in training.

Bent’s absence has now been confirmed, with damage to tendons in his knee cited as the problem.