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Johnson for England - Ipswich Town News

Town manager George Burley has said that Town striker may still have a chance of making it in an England shirt despite last season's international shenanigans. Johnson was linked with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as it was thought his possession of a British passport despite being born outside the UK meant he was eligible for any of the home countries. This however was found to be untrue as his mother was born in England.

He had already made an appearance on the bench for the England U21s and George Burley feels that this season may be the one where Johnson makes the step up further: "I signed David from Bury and he has been a prolific scorer for three seasons. He showed on Saturday that his improvement is continuing."

The former Manchester United player goes into tonight's game hoping to put one over on his old team-mates. He has quite a few friends still at Old Trafford with Phil Neville being a particular mate. Johnson did well against Sol Campbell at White Hart Lane on Saturday and there is no reason to think he can't do the same tonight.

Town's squad for tonight's game with Manchester United shows no real surprises. John Scales is missing with the thigh strain that kept him out on Saturday while both Mark Venus and Wayne Brown are included despite their injuries sustained at the weekend. Hermann Hreidarsson makes his home debut.

For United Ronnie Johnsen and Dennis Irwin will both miss out along with Nicky Butt who is still suspended. Alec Ferguson hinted in his post-match interview on Sunday that he is likely to play Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer up front as opposed to Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole who played at Newcastle. Jeff Winter will referee.

Town squad: R Wright, Branagan, Wilnis, Croft, Clapham, Hreidarsson, Bramble, McGreal, Venus, Brown, Thetis, Mowbray, Holland, Magilton, J Wright, Reuser, Scowcroft, Johnson and Stewart.

United: Barthez, G Neville, Stam, Wallwork, P Neville, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Cole, Sheringham, Solskjaer, Yorke, Berg, Van Der Gouw, May and Brown.

There will be commentary on tonight's match on the official website. As usual there will also be heated debate in out chatroom, situated in the Interactive section of the site.

The statue of Sir Alf Ramsey is to be unveiled at noon today. The statue, paid for by the Official Supporters' Club is situated on the corner of Portman Road and Sir Alf Ramsey Way opposite the North Stand. A number of stars from the football world are expected to attend among them Sir Bobby Charlton, a member of the team Sir Alf led to the World Cup win. The statue will be unveiled by Ray Crawford, goalscoring hero of Town's 1962 championship win. Other members of that side will also attend including the other half of that striking duo Ted Phillips.

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