IT HAS become a tradition in England for a player to stake a late claim for inclusion in the World Cup squad and then to emerge from the finals as a star.

It happened with Michael Owen in France in 1998, Paul Gascoigne in Italy eight years earlier, Peter Beardsley in Mexico in 1986 and, most famously of all, with Geoff Hurst 40 years ago.

The thought of Dean Ashton emulating Hurst by scoring a hat-trick to win England the World Cup this summer might be a trifle fanciful, but after another accomplished performance on Monday evening, it is not unfeasible to think that the striker might follow in the footsteps of his legendary predecessor at West Ham United and sneak into the national squad at the eleventh hour.

Having seemingly accepted that Peter Crouch, Darren Bent and Jermain Defoe represent the country’s best attacking alternatives after Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, whether Sven-Göran Eriksson would be willing to break with his rigid selection policy and open the door to another forward at this late stage remains to be seen.

However, even the Swede could not have failed to be impressed by Ashton’s showing in West Ham’s 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final victory over Manchester City.

Alan Pardew suggested that West Ham may have paid “over the odds” for Ashton when they signed him for £7.25 million from Norwich City in January, but after watching the 22-year-old forward score a brace against City to take his tally to five goals in seven games, the manager, like others who deemed the fee excessive, might now wish to retract his comments.

Nigel Reo-Coker, the West Ham captain, certainly thinks Ashton has the credentials to play for England and a quick glance at the statistics suggest that Eriksson would be foolish to overlook him.

Ashton has scored 97 goals in 230 games for West Ham, Norwich and Crewe Alexandra, which equates to a goal every 2.37 games.

By contrast, Crouch’s career record of 66 goals in 218 games equates to a goal every 3.30 games, while Bent has scored 74 goals in 176 games for Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town at a rate of one every 2.38 matches.

Only Defoe, the Tottenham Hotspur striker, has a marginally better record, his 97 career goals in 225 games the equivalent of a goal every 2.32 matches.

“He is an all-round striker and I believe he will go on to greatness,” Reo-Coker said. “He has been a fantastic signing. I was always a big fan of Dean before we bought him. I know what he is about from (playing with him for) England Under-21s. He has formed a terrific partnership with Marlon Harewood and it has paid off. I think there is a lot more to come from Dean.”

The player himself has not given an England call-up any consideration, however, and rather than concern himself with thoughts of inclusion in Eriksson’s final 23-man squad, which will be announced on May 8, Ashton is focused on helping West Ham to a first FA Cup triumph since they overcame Arsenal in the 1980 final.

“I dreamt as a young lad of playing in an FA Cup semi-final and final and now the chance is there,” he said. It is hard not to be aware of the history at this club and the great players who have played for it. Hopefully now we can create our own bit of history.”

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