Rooney injury shifts balance of Eriksson's squad

Wayne Rooney's broken toe has exposed the paucity of striking talent available to England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as he makes his final ponderings before naming a 27-man provisional World Cup squad today.

The Swede is likely to name Rooney in the squad and, depending on the state of the injury, will probably take him to Germany hoping he might be fit to make an impact in the knockout stages.

Michael Owen, a proven tournament operator but also fighting to fully recover from a broken toe, will remain first choice for the starting team while Peter Crouch is also a certainty for the squad and could find himself in the 11.

Eriksson may have taken five strikers anyway but will certainly need to if he plans to carry Rooney through the early stages.

Charlton Athletic's free-scoring Darren Bent should get the chance to take his yeoman, but uninspired talents to the finals.

Owen apart, none of those names are likely to strike fear into the cream of the world's defenders and the fact that the likes of James Beattie, Emile Heskey and even Robbie Fowler have also been mentioned as possible inclusions shows just how little Eriksson has to choose from.

The situation could force Eriksson to abandon his preferred 4-4-2 formation, play Owen as a lone striker and rely on his undeniably talented midfield resources to provide the goals.

Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham and Joe Cole are the current first choice quartet with Jermaine Jenas, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves also probables for the trip.