Barry equipped to solve the side issue

Twenty-three matches and 24 months as England's head coach, and Sven Goran Eriksson is not a great deal closer to solving the conundrum of who fills the gaping hole on the left of his midfield than when he started in the job. A whole team of 10 outfield players have been tried (see below), none of whom have been convincing enough to make the position their own.

In the country's last four matches, only one of which was won, a different choice has started each time. Wayne Bridge, the most recent incumbent, is now injured; Paul Scholes, currently on a hot streak of goals, was so clearly wasted out wide in Slovakia that the whole system had to be changed at half-time; Emile Heskey has repeatedly shown for Liverpool that he is better employed as a foil to Michael Owen in attack; and Trevor Sinclair, the accidental tourist suddenly given a chance at the World Cup, has just been dropped by West Ham.

Sinclair's replacement as his club beat Blackburn Rovers at Upton Park in midweek was the more versatile Joe Cole, who could be given a chance on his home ground when Australia play in England for the first time, on Wednesday week. Cole has never started in that position for his country, but did well as a substitute for Kieron Dyer – another contender – against Paraguay last season. There are other square pegs who might be rubbed down: little David Thompson, called up by Eriksson for the first time in Slovakia, was the opposing left-midfielder for Blackburn against West Ham, but prefers a central position, as does Newcastle's talented young Jermaine Jenas.

Others among the next generation of Under-21 players, of whom Manchester United's Kieran Richardson may well turn out to be the brightest, are not playing regularly in the Premiership. Jonathan Greening of Middlesbrough could yet make a squad at some stage; Southampton's Chris Marsden, excellent all season, can hardly hope to at 34 and Graeme Le Saux must finally have given up dreaming after his stubbornly repeated exclusion.

But at Villa Park, where it all began for Sven two years ago this month, they believe there is a solution, a player apparently suffering from "Le Saux syndrome", but with none of the perceived defects of temperament that seem to have ostracised the Chelsea man. When Eriksson issued invitations to a huge party of 31 for his first match, against Spain, no one was more disappointed to be left off the mailing list than Gareth Barry.

Here was a player who had, after all, been selected for the previous four England games by three different managers. Kevin Keegan, Howard Wilkinson and Peter Taylor had all seen fit to include him and not been let down. Instead of continuing the sequence under the new coach on his home ground, however, Barry found himself ranked behind Michael Ball and Chris Powell, and back with the Under-21s under Wilkinson, whose words of consolation sound a little thin two years on: "You can't be picked every time, and not being picked should not mean you're cast out. Sometimes it's necessary to move people out and then move them back in again."

The "moving back" has never happened. Although a regular for Villa at the time, capable of playing at full-back, wing-back or in midfield, Barry was to fall out of favour with John Gregory in the way in which managers are often prone to spite their face with a little nose-cutting. From the start of last season until Gregory's departure a year ago, Barry started only four games. Now, wide on the left in Graham Taylor's 4-4-2 formation, he is back at his best, and was prominent – finding a place on the scoresheet – in last week's extraordinary 5-2 victory at Middlesbrough.

If Eriksson takes any heed of his Under-21 coach's opinion, he must surely pick Barry in his squad for the first time; David Platt, Wilkinson's successor, could hardly have been more fulsome in declaring recently: "His performances in the last two or three months on the left side of midfield have been exemplary and I think he is probably playing the best football of his career."

The player himself, who will not be 22 until later this month, has regained sufficient confidence to talk up his chances of a recall: "It's been well publicised that it's a problem for England, so whoever is picked is under the microscope and has to face a lot of pressure. Although I hated being out of the Villa team, it benefited me in one way in making me mentally stronger, and I've learnt a lot. When Graham Taylor took over, he said 'why don't you play on the left of midfield?' and I'd always wanted to. I'm thankful to David Platt, who made me captain of the Under-21s, which was a great honour. He told me to keep working hard and keep going. Now I think I'm in contention."

It would be even more inexplicable than Le Saux's exclusion if he wasn't. Furthermore, with a proliferation of substitutes expected against the Australians, in order to appease managers, a place in the party named on Saturday evening would offer every chance of a cap.

Although Eriksson will be keen to reacquaint his players with each other four months after the last international, there would be more point trying Villa's wide boy than going back to a Sinclair or a Heskey. Today's fixture with Blackburn presents Barry with an ideal opportunity to catch the eye that matters.

The left flank under Eriksson

Feb 2001 Spain (h) won 3-0 – Nicky Barmby
March Finland (h) 2-1 – Steve McManaman
March Albania (a) 3-1 – McManaman
May Mexico (h) 4-0 – Emile Heskey
June Greece (a) 2-0 – Heskey
Aug Holland (h) 0-2 – Owen Hargreaves
Sept Germany (a) 5-1 – Barmby
Sept Albania (h) 2-0 – Barmby
Oct Greece (h) 2-2 – Barmby
Nov Sweden (h) 1-1 – Trevor Sinclair
Feb 2002 Holland (a) 1-1 – Paul Scholes*
March Italy (h) 1-2 – Sinclair
April Paraguay (h) 4-0 – Kieron Dyer
May S Korea (a) 1-1 – Scholes*
May Cameroon (World Cup) 2-2 – Heskey
June Sweden (WC) 1-1 – Heskey
June Argentina (WC) 1-0 – Hargreaves
June Nigeria (WC) 0-0 – Sinclair
June Denmark (WC) 3-0 – Sinclair
June Brazil (WC) 1-2 – Sinclair
Sept Portugal (h) 1-1 – Heskey
Oct Slovakia (a) 2-1 – Scholes
Oct Macedonia (h) 2-2 – Wayne Bridge

* In a 4-3-3 formation. Others used as substitutes: Joe Cole and Darren Anderton.