England game and Bent slip in under the radar

Given the amount of attention that FIFA and Zurich have received from the English media over the last seven days, you'd be excused for forgetting that this Saturday England face Switzerland in a crucial qualifying match.

England remain top of Group G for qualification to the European Championships next year, only on goal difference from a determined Montenegro side, who came within a crossbar of claiming all three points when the sides met in October. Three points this weekend will see England remain in pole position over the summer and hopefully restore some normality to a week which has seen FIFA and the world game reduced to a farcical state.

A raft of withdrawals from the initial 23 man squad, and Capello's decision not to call up replacements means that a concise team will be asked to overcome Switzerland, on paper the strongest team in Group G.

Already without two of England's most influential players in Rooney and Gerrard, through suspension and injury respectively, Capello has a squad comprising only three recognised strikers. Bobby Zamora, who has only just returned from a lengthy lay-off, Peter Crouch, who has hardly been prolific this campaign, and Darren Bent, the £24 million man at Aston Villa.

Bent appears to be in favour with Capello, getting the nod ahead of other forwards for the Wales game this March and putting in a superb performance which was capped with a goal: finishing a slick move which was assisted by his club team-mate, Ashley Young.

Bent's arrival at Villa in January and his already impressive link up with Young helped ease Houllier's men away from the bottom reaches of the table in the Premier League and this interplay looks to have carried on to international level. The movement that Bent offers to any team proves invaluable, and his runs off the last defender will cause problems for even the most experienced defenders, especially so with talented play-makers in a midfield.

After an excellent season and Capello's belated switch to a 4-3-3, Young finally seems to have established himself within the England squad. Young failed to even make the initial 30 man squad for the World Cup, losing out to midfielders Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who have failed to even make the bench at times for their clubs this season, so his emergence on the international scene marks a remarkable turnaround.

Young and Bent would have watched from home last summer, as England toiled to elimination in the round of 16, but now look like nailed on starters for the game against the Swiss this Saturday. The pair, much like Saturday's game, itself have come into contention with little attention and fuss; although if England do finally get one over on the Swiss on the pitch, there will be plenty of media attention.