Lloyd lays down gauntlet

Great Britain captain John Lloyd has urged the nation's young stars to stake a claim for Greg Rusedski's place in the Davis Cup team.

Rusedski announced his retirement during the weekend's 4-1 victory over Holland at the NEC in Birmingham, which set up a World Group promotion play-off in September.

"We had Jamie Baker and Richard Bloomfield here this week and there were a couple of other players that were close to getting in that group," Lloyd said. "They have been around and seen it, they know what's expected of them now, they've seen the work ethic of these boys."

Jamie Murray partnered Rusedski to victory in Saturday's doubles and looks set to become a mainstay of the team, but Rusedski's retirement means either Andy Murray or Tim Henman will be forced to play doubles in September - and therefore possibly play three matches in three days - unless one of the younger squad members emerges as a viable option.

Lloyd added: "When you practise with Tim and Greg and Andy it's a different level and they know now that's the sort of intensity and level they have to get to if they want to step up and be in the team with a chance of playing.

"All these guys are fighting for a spot. Now with Greg leaving they know there is a definite spot available."

Britain discover who they will face from September 21-23 when the draw is made on Wednesday, and could be handed tough clashes in Chile, Croatia or Belarus.

However, the chances of a home tie are good and even a Swiss side possibly led by world number one Roger Federer is now not too daunting a prospect.

"A home tie would be great and Austria or Australia wouldn't scare us too much. There's a few nasty ones but I don't think there's that many teams, particularly on our home ground, that would like to face Andy, Tim and now Jamie in that kind of form," Lloyd added.

"I'm very confident, I think we've got a great shot against anybody."