Far from resting on his laurels after a resounding 4-1 win away to Croatia, Fabio Capello plans to freshen up his squad for England's forthcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Kazakhstan and Belarus. The England manager will watch Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor, the Aston Villa forwards, against Chelsea on Sunday before announcing his squad, although his interest in the latter is tempered by a reluctance to deprive the under-21 team of key personnel for their play-off against Wales, the first leg of which will be played on October 10 at Ninian Park, in Cardiff.

Capello believes that England Under-21 are of paramount importance to the senior set-up and is eager to balance the needs of Stuart Pearce, their head coach, whose squad is among the favourites for the European Under-21 Championship finals in Sweden next summer, with those of the senior team. Capello, who announces his own squad to play Kazakhstan at Wembley on October 11 and Belarus in Minsk four days later, has been impressed with the form of Agbonlahor, 21, and Young, 23, this season and is eager to study them in action at Stamford Bridge as he ponders a further injection of pace into his forward line.

Micah Richards, the Manchester City defender, is another who hopes to be promoted from the under-21 squad, having failed to figure under Capello, and Shaun Wright-Phillips may feel that he has done enough to force his way back into the England reckoning after his return to City from Chelsea. David Bentley is among those whose places are most vulnerable after an unimpressive start to his Tottenham Hotspur career and Jimmy Bullard will drop out of the squad after the return to fitness of Steven Gerrard.

The most intriguing decisions for Capello surround his attack, with Agbonlahor and Young increasing competition for places after Theo Walcott's hat-trick against Croatia in Zagreb, where Emile Heskey was Wayne Rooney's partner in attack. It remains to be seen whether Michael Owen's five goals in seven appear-

ances for a struggling Newcastle United this season have persuaded Capello that he is worthy of a recall. The England manager stated after leaving Owen out of his squad to face Andorra and Croatia that “the door is not closed on any player”, but he is known to have misgivings about the forward, casting doubts about when Owen will have the opportunity to add to his record of 40 goals in 89 appearances for England.