At the start of the current Premier League season, any self-respecting bookmaker would presumably have given long odds on Aston Villa's midfield player James Milner entering the final weeks of the campaign as, potentially, England's starting left-back for the South Africa World Cup.Today, that possibility moved a step closer. Milner, one of the pleasant surprise stories of the current season, is ready, willing and able to step into the breach left by injury to first-choice Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge's much-publicised decision to rule himself out of contention due to the John Terry affair.
Tomorrow's Wembley friendly with Egypt could well present Milner, 24, with an opportunity to audition for the role and, given his performances in a number of roles for Villa this season, it would not surprise if he excels, particularly given the low quality of the opposition.
"If asked to play there, I will do the best I can," said Milner, who played in that position previously against Belarus. "My best position is attacking centre-midfield or wide, but if asked to play there I will do it my best. I've got about 15 minutes experience there and that's for England. It's not a bad place to start.
"I'm happy to be with the squad wherever that means I'm playing. There's lots of good quality players and competition is healthy for the squad. I want to keep playing as well as I can and hope to push my way into the squad, stay there and look to a place in the starting eleven."
The Wembley crowd is expected to give Chelsea's Terry a mixed reception after Manchester City's Bridge refused to shake hands with his former team-mate at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
But Milner - fresh from his Carling Cup defeat to Manchester United 24 hours later - does not expect it to affect Terry's performance even though his captain's arm band will pass to Steven Gerrard for the evening.
"We're a squad, as one with a job to do. We are going into a major tournament, it's important we're all together," added Milner.
"There's no way that'd be any different. It's important you have one captain who wears the armband but he can't be the only player out there. You need as many captains as you can, you need people to lead by example."
With controversy never far away from the England squad at present, the players have been quick to put their arm around new recruit Ryan Shawcross. The young Stoke City defender has been left devastated since he injured Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey with a bad challenge on Saturday.
Milner said: "It's about us making it as easy for him to be welcomed in as possible. He's a good player, has a good head on his shoulders. He's not a dirty player.
"It's a terrible thing and I hope he Ramsey gets as fit as soon as possible and I'm sure Ryan will come to terms with it. This will help give him confidence because an incident like that could knock you - but this will help get his mind back on football."
