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LONDON, May 17: England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson turned to Liverpool's Jamie Carragher and Tottenham's Ledley King to shore up his side's defence when he announced on Monday his provisional squad for the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal.
Eriksson overlooked the defensive claims of Gareth Southgate even though the experienced Middles brough man insisted he could recover from injury in time. Also omitted were Manchester United's Wes Brown and Southgate's Boro team-mate Ugo Ehiogu.
Southgate had the minor consolation of being placed on standby along with Birmingham's Matthew Upson. Four other players have also been left with an outside chance of making it into the final squad, due to be named on June 2, including Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe
England squad
Goalkeepers: David James (Man City), Paul Robinson (Leeds/Tottenham), Ian Walker (Leicester)
Defenders: Gary Neville (Man Utd), Phil Neville (Man Utd), Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), John Terry (Chelsea), Ledley King (Tottenham), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
Midfielders: David Beckham (Real Madrid), Paul Scholes (Man Utd), Nicky Butt (Man Utd), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle), Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Strikers: Michael Owen (Liverpool), Emile Heskey (Liverpool), Darius Vassell (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Everton)
On standby: Gareth Southgate (Middlesbrough), Matthew Upson (Birmingham), Scott Parker (Chelsea), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Alan Smith (Leeds), Richard Wright (Everton). -AFP
