Frank Lampard will be the most relieved man in the England squad for the upcoming qualifiers, after Steve McClaren revealed he tried to persuade Paul Scholes to come out of international retirement last week.

Scholes stuck to his guns and said no thanks, but if he'd said yes that might have left Lampard sitting with Jermaine Jenas, Phil Neville and the other perennial England benchwarmers.

McClaren's big achievement has been to sort out central midfield, using a holding mid alongside an attacking mid, like proper managers do. He would have been unlikely to ruin that by pairing Scholes with Lampard, and he'd surely have promised Scholes a spot in the first XI, so logic would have dictated lamps taking a time out.