Ferdinand and Bridge get the nod
From Back Page setting off for Switzerland, Ferdinand was confident of retaining his place while Ledley King and Frank Lampard both completed the whole session, providing coach Eriksson with a full-strength squad to choose from. Campbell will surely feel aggrieved at being left out of the starting line-up despite an impressive display against Austria last month. Eriksson had controversially dropped Ferdinand for that match in favour of the Arsenal centre back as first-choice partner for John Terry. Campbell, however, was injured during that game and Manchester United’s Ferdinand was back in for the 2-1 victory over Poland. Ferdinand, however, has failed to impress for his club recently and was at fault in United’s humiliating 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough and then the Champions League defeat by Lille last week. Given his patchy domestic form which led to him being dropped in the first place, it had been anticipated that Campbell would return. The move represents something of a gamble for the Swede given his courageous decision to omit one his most high profile players in the first instance, but Eriksson appears to believe that the Terry-Ferdinand partnership is the one which will start in the World Cup Finals in Germany next summer. With King apparently fit, Eriksson will experiment with his ‘Plan B’ and play a diamond midfield, with the Tottenham captain anchoring in front of the defence. The selection of Bridge remains a risk in light of the fact that he has played only once for his club — in the Carling Cup defeat to Charlton two weeks ago — since injuring an ankle at Newcastle last February. Bridge was the trusted deputy for Ashley Cole, still nursing a broken bone in his foot, until he was injured himself. Good performances in training over the past two days have convinced the England coaching team he is now ready for action. That will mean disappointment for Phil Neville and Konchesky, who both saw injured Jamie Carragher’s absence from the squad as an opportunity to make headway towards securing a berth in Eriksson’s World Cup squad.