Keown stakes his claim for England recall

Steve Stammers13 April 2012

Martin Keown made it clear today that he is ready to come to England's defence as manager Sven-Goran Eriksson prepares for the World Cup qualifier in Greece in June.

The Arsenal defender was left out of the friendly against Italy by caretaker manager Peter Taylor and injury ruled him out of Eriksson's first three matches.

But he has proved his fitness by playing seven games for Arsenal in the last four weeks and, with Tottenham's Sol Campbell likely to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury, the competitive Keown is a natural replacement.

Keown showed himself to be as reliable and determined as ever as Arsenal responded to the disappointment of their Champions League exit against Valencia with an emphatic 4-1 demolition of Everton at Highbury.

He said: "I just think about the next game and if that takes me forward into the national team, then so be it. I have met the new manager and he seems a nice guy and my manager Arsene Wenger speaks very highly of him. I am sure the English game is now in good hands.

"There are too many games coming up to worry about international football but if it comes it would be very nice. But I have to concentrate on Arsenal.

"We were very close to getting into the semi-final of the Champions League and that shows the progress we have made. We are now thinking we can be European champions. Perhaps, when we first went into it, we were very young as a team in Europe but that's not the case any more.

"Against Everton, it was back to business in the Premiership to make sure we can qualify for the Champions League again and put that experience to good use. Everyone was very positive before Saturday's game and I think it showed."

There was good news for Wenger on the injury front with both Ray Parlour and Dennis Bergkamp likely to be fit for the FA Cup Final on 12 May against Liverpool. Parlour is due to return to training tomorrow or Wednesday after a slight back problem and could be in contention for a place against Derby at Pride Park on Saturday.

Bergkamp had a slight setback in his comeback from an Achilles injury but it is hoped he will be given the all-clear to resume training at the end of the week. That would give him a fortnight to prepare for the showdown with Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Meanwhile, Wenger is hoping that French national coach Roger Lemerre will give his quartet of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires no more than 45 minutes each in Wednesday's friendly with Portugal in Paris.

The Arsenal manager feels that French-based players, who have had a far less punishing schedule, should be given their chance against the Portuguese. His fear is a recurrence of the injury suffered by Henry a year ago when he tore a hamstring while playing for his country.

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