England look for alternatives to injured Le Saux

England coach Kevin Keegan is ready to dump Chelsea full back Graeme Le Saux from his Euro 2000 plans as the player suffers with a long term injury.

Le Saux last played at the end of September but has been training recently in an attempt to recover fitness. This has not stopped Keegan from all but ruling the player out of his plans for June due to lack of activity.

West Ham teenager Joe Cole now looks certain to make the final selection of 22 despite missing last night's under-21 international against Yugoslavia. Cole has only played once for the under-21s and was not chosen to start the 3-0 win over Yugoslavia in a play-off to reach the junior version of the Euro finals in May.

The injury to Le Saux removes the most experienced English left back from Keegan's plans but is certain to boost Darren Anderton's claims to a place in the selection.

Anderton has struggled again with several injuries this season but is now a first team regular for Tottenham. He plays on the right side of midfield in the Premiership but was used as a left sided midfielder by England coach Terry Venables with some success in Euro 96.

Anderton can also play as a left wing back and across midfield if necessary so his versatility would be valuable for Keegan if he intends to take Cole for experience and his natural ability on the left side of a team.

England have failed to deal with problems on their left side for several seasons and Cole is not ready for a regular place in the team. Leeds United player Jason Wilcox is naturally left sided and was praised by Keegan after his performance in the recent friendly against Argentina. The Leeds man is moving closer to an automatic place in final squad to play in Euro 2000 and Keegan obviously thinks the struggling Le Saux cannot challenge him.