Kevin Keegan found himself in a most unusual and privileged position for an international manager yesterday. After a full programme of Premiership fixtures at the weekend, and despite the fact that he named 27 players in his squad, the England boss had not one telephone call citing injury as a reason for withdrawal from the England-Germany match at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.
The closest thing to an enforced omission came in the shape of Kieron Dyer's twisted knee. The Newcastle United wing-half sustained the knock at Maine Road on Saturday and has since had it "wrapped in ice," according to his club manager Bobby Robson. Nevertheless, Dyer still turned up with the rest of the England squad at their base west of London yesterday and will be hopeful that he has recovered by Saturday.
If he does not then the news is still hardly the worst for Keegan. Dyer did well when he came on as a substitute against France in the friendly in Paris last month, supplying the cross from which Michael Owen equalised, but he is far from a certain starter against Germany and with the rest of the squad apparently intact, Dyer could struggle to find a seat on the bench.
Keegan will take his first training session this morning and will know the state of his players after that. Paul Scholes is unlikely to train - Alex Ferguson said Scholes needed two or three days rest after the Arsenal game - while David Beckham and Martin Keown are both nursing minor injuries.
Two others who did have doubts, West Ham's Rio Ferdinand and Liverpool's Emile Heskey, both played in their club games with no obvious ill effect and Keegan's most demanding task could be patching up the differences between Heskey's team-mate Steven Gerrard and Chelsea's Dennis Wise after their niggly spat at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Northern Ireland have been boosted by the withdrawal of Denmark's playmaker Martin Jorgensen ahead of Saturday's World Cup qualifier.
Jorgensen is not fully fit after recovering from a groin injury and Danish coach Morten Olsen has decided not to risk him against the Irish at Windsor Park.
The Irish players will meet up in Belfast today, but missing will be Blackburn winger Damien Johnson.
Johnson has been suffering from a groin injury and Irish boss Sammy McIlroy has agreed to let him stay a day or two longer with Rovers to receive treatment.
Scotland coach Craig Brown's World Cup preparations have suffered another setback with Leeds United star Dominic Matteo set to pull out through injury.
The former Liverpool player sustained an ankle injury in his side's victory over Tottenham on Saturday and looks set to miss out on his first international cap.
In addition Celtic midfielder Paul Lambert failed to appear for the second half in his side's 1-1 draw at Aberdeen after suffering an infected toe.
And manager Martin O'Neill admitted he was also doubtful for next Saturday's World Cup qualifier against San Marino in the Stadio Olimpico in Serraville and against group favourites Croatia in Zagreb on Wednesday week.
