Former Town defender Russell Osman says he wasn’t joking when he said that England boss Fabio Capello should take Connor Wickham to the World Cup instead of Aston Villa striker Emile Heskey. The 51-year-old ex-centre-half was co-commentating on England’s European U17 Championships final victory over Spain for Eurosport when he made the remark.
Osman, who was capped 11 times by England, said: "I wasn’t being flippant. It’s not bias, either, because I played for Ipswich.
"Of course people will question why Capello would take Wickham to the World Cup but my reply would be, "Why not?” Sven Goran Eriksson picked Theo Walcott four years ago and he was 17 with even less experience than Wickham.
"If there’s one area of the England team where we are possibly a bit short it’s up front. We have a problem knowing who to play alongside Wayne Rooney and another when it comes to putting the ball in the net.
"Wickham could do it. He’s not a boy, he’s a 17-year-old man and with his ability allied to his physique I genuinely think he’s a one-off.”
Osman is clearly a huge fan of Wickham, who is rated at around the £10 million mark by this morning’s papers: "He can do the lot. He hit two good left foot shots for his goals in the semi-final and an excellent right-foot drive in the final.
"He’s just as strong as Heskey and has a better eye for goal. And here’s the frightening part – he’s still growing.
"At the moment he’s 6ft 3in tall and weighs 14 stone but from my own experience I reckon he will be 19 before he stops.”
Capello will announce which of his 30-man provisional squad have made the 23 for South Africa later today. Surprise calls from outside the 30 are not expected.