McLaren's selection headache

Steven Gerrard has announced that despite England's injury list problems, the boss Steve McLaren does have a genuine selection headache.

Speaking on Gareth Barry's impressive performance in the 3-0 victory over Israel; Gerrard said, "Gareth Barry played really well. I think our partnership was really effective considering we'd only trained twice together before the game. Gareth deserves credit for the way he played."

Gareth Barry played in place of Owen Hargreaves who is set to miss the Russia game on Wednesday.

Gerrard also commented on Emile Heskey's return for England on Saturday, "I was also not surprised at all with the way Emile played. He is the type of player you want in your team. He works hard off the ball for the team and is a big physical presence.

"He has been out of the England picture for a long time but deserves credit for the way he performed on Saturday.

"The manager has got a difficult decision to make with Emile and Crouchy who is another quality target man. I am sure both of them are capable of doing the job for us on Wednesday."

Gerrard commented on England's strength in depth by mentioning Michael Carrick, "Michael Carrick, who is Manchester United's main midfielder, never even played."