Thompson's form rewarded with England call

David Thompson yesterday proved the direct route is not the only one when it comes to negotiating the treacherous journey from promise to performance. The former youth and Under-21 international, who appeared to have lost his way when leaving Liverpool two years ago, was rewarded for rediscovering his bearings at Blackburn Rovers with an invitation to join England's senior squad.

Thompson was called into the party for the forthcoming European Championship double-header against Slovakia and Macedonia after injury forced West Ham's Trevor Sinclair to withdraw. Although Sven Goran Eriksson could have recalled Joe Cole or Lee Bowyer, both of whom were omitted from the original squad, Thompson's fine recent form swayed the decision. "He has been impressive over the last few weeks and I have seen him play on a couple of occasions," Eriksson said. "I am looking forward to working with him."

Tord Grip, Eriksson's assistant, expanded. "We more or less know the first XI so when we have a squad of 23 players we can afford to look at different people. Sven has seen David Thompson playing as an outside left and outside right. I saw him playing in central midfield against Manchester City. He played really well and scored a marvellous goal from 25 yards. I asked someone: 'Who is that?' Then I remembered Roland Nilsson had talked about him a few times when he was manager of Coventry City. I used to speak to Roland regularly and he often said Coventry played well when Thompson was playing.

"I also spoke to Sammy Lee, who knew him from Liverpool and the Under-21s, and David Sexton, who also spoke very highly of him. He can play anywhere in midfield and that is very useful for us. He deserves his place." Thompson, 25, had long been earmarked as one to watch when he broke into the Liverpool team as a teenager. Capped from Under-16 onwards, he played for the Under-21s alongside Nicky Butt, Kieron Dyer and Emile Heskey and appeared to have established himself when he played in 27 league matches for Liverpool three seasons ago.

Then Gérard Houllier paid £6m for Nicky Barmby. With Steven Gerrard emerging, Thompson left for Coventry in search of regular first-team football. He found it but, a year later, was in the Nationwide League. Yet he does not regret the move. "I needed to go away from Liverpool," he has recalled. "I needed to get out of my environment and grow up. I did that at Coventry and I was also given the chance to develop my game. I can now play all across the midfield. The move made me a better person and a better player."

This summer Graeme Souness, who remembered the young Thompson from his time at Anfield as manager, brought him back into the Premiership. "He punches his weight, sees the picture and is a great free-kick taker," said Souness. "He's a proper little Scouser: Spiky, strong, gets around the pitch, gets upset and is a joy to work with." Thompson does, indeed, 'get upset' and is no stranger to the red card. Grip acknowledged: "He can be aggressive and maybe he has to control that a little," but neither he nor Eriksson have yet been put off by suspect temperaments.

On which subject, Grip stressed that Bowyer's absence was for football reasons alone, adding that, like Cole, he was struggling for form and confidence.

Other headlines Grip sought to downplay were those surrounding Rio Ferdinand's operation. "There is no problem at all with Manchester United," he said. The club have pointed out they contacted Eriksson soon after making the decision to operate but, as his telephone was switched off, were unable to speak to him until late Saturday afternoon. By that time he had already addressed the media while under the impression everyone was fit.

Eriksson has since lost three of his squad but, prior to last night's match between United and Everton, only Ferdinand from the team. Grip was happy enough with that. "We have 10 out of the starting XI and good substitutes for Rio," he said.

"We still have to look at things this week. The left side is where we have made the most changes to the team so we will try some things in training. Heskey has played there for Liverpool but they also need him up front. Dyer prefers central midfield or up front where he played against Juventus. We have options and that is one of the things for us to work on." England fly to Bratislava for Saturday's match against Slovakia on Thursday.

ENGLAND: Likely starting XI v Slovakia: Seaman; G Neville, Campbell, Southgate, A Cole; Beckham, Gerrard, Scholes, Heskey; Smith, Owen.