Fabio Capello has warned Andy Carroll he has to get himself into shape before he can be considered a potential England starter, ahead of their Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales at Wembley.
Carroll, 22, who was left out of Liverpool's last match against Bolton, is highly rated by Capello but was not even on the bench for Friday's 3-0 victory over Bulgaria. With Darren Bent withdrawing from the squad yesterday with a groin problem, the England manager has a decision to make as to whether Carroll will be promoted to the bench for tomorrow's game.
Capello said: "He needs to find good form. All the players do. I chose 25 players and decided that the first XI would be the players who were, for me, in the best moment of form. Andy didn't play the last game with Liverpool and probably he is not at the top. Also he is big. He needs to play games, games, games. It's the start of the season.
"In this moment, some players are really good and run a lot. In the last 20 minutes [on Friday] we had everything - ball possession, chances to score, because we were fresh. We were winning 3-0 but we were fresh. When these players, like [Frank] Lampard, like Andy, will be fit, at the top of their form, they will be important."
Capello is considering a recall for Lampard for tomorrow's game just four days after leaving the midfielder out of the team against Bulgaria - the first time Lampard had been dropped for a competitive England match in four years.
