February 5 2005

Andy Johnson

Andrew Johnson has received a call-up to the England squad for the friendly against Holland.

Johnson who has netted 16 goals already this season, has been called-up along with Stewart Downing of Middlesbrough.

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been aware of AJ for sometime.

Eriksson said: "That pace that he has is very important in modern international football. He has a lot of it and that is a big thing. He also works very hard for the team and technically has he good ability with the ball at his feet.

"Another quality is his bravery. He is happy to play on his own and work for his chances and take the tackles. These are all good qualities and he seems intelligent too. It helps if you are clever in life and international football is no different to that.

"He was very near to coming into the squad last time and now he's here. It's very exciting to have players like him and Stewart Downing coming through and we have this friendly game to take a look at them.

"With these two and Shaun Wright-Phillips - who isn't new to the squad but is almost new - we have some very interesting options to pick from."

The friendly against Holland is on Feburary 9 at 7.45pm.

Full squad:

Paul Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur), David James (Manchester City), Robert Green (Norwich City), Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Matthew Upson (Birmingham City), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Glen Johnson (Chelsea), Gary Neville (Manchester United), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Newcastle United), David Beckham (Real Madrid), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City) Andrew Johnson (Crystal Palace), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Michael Owen (Real Madrid), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur).