Ferguson wins the battle of wills with Eriksson

Sven Goran Eriksson must have thought that the conspiracy theorists were right yesterday afternoon. Not only was Sir Alex Ferguson against him, so was Gérard Houllier. Neither Nicky Butt nor Stephen Gerrard, his likely first-choice central midfield for Saturday's friendly against Portugal, had turned up when England practiced at Aston Villa's training ground. That left him with just 16 players to work with.

It transpired they had not joined Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Kieron Dyer on the list of withdrawn players but were among the thousands of travellers delayed by a fatal crash on the M6. Yet while Houllier later praised Eriksson for his restrained use of Liverpool's England internationals, there were no signs of a rapprochment with Ferguson. Instead it seemed the Manchester United manager had picked and won a comprehensive victory in the latest battle of wills.

Their dispute began last season when Ferguson disagreed with Eriksson's desire for Beckham to travel to Dubai with the rest of the squad for pre-World Cup bonding. Ferguson felt the player would be better off recuperating from his foot injury in Manchester. Eventually Ferguson gave way, but he did not forget.

On Monday Eriksson named Beckham, but omitted Paul Scholes, from the squad to play at Villa Park on Saturday. Scholes, he was told, was not fit due to an ankle injury. On Tuesday Eriksson attended United's match at Old Trafford and was astonished to see Scholes play 77 minutes. After the match Eriksson was told not only that was Scholes still unfit for England but Beckham would be withdrawn as well.

Glenn Hoddle, when placed in a similar position by Ferguson several years ago, responded by calling up two more Manchester United players as replacements. Eriksson might have been tempted to do the same and summon Phil Neville but he is dependent on Ferguson for Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Wes Brown besides Beckham, Butt and Scholes.

Eriksson gave way, stepping so far back from inflaming the confrontation he was not even prepared to speak. Instead the FA's Communications Officer said: "A conversation between Sven and David took place on Tuesday night. It's a blow to lose the captain. Sven wanted to know the extent of the injury. David said he felt the calf prevented him playing on Saturday."

Ferguson's response was withering. "We have to be single-minded," he said. From me through to the dressing room. Events of the last week indicate the message has been received and understood."

Privately, Eriksson is upset having written to all the Premiership managers pre-season explaining that he would give up several dates set aside for international matches in return for fuller use of their players when he did have friendlies. It is not an insignificant sacrifice, for the FA as well as Eriksson, since each friendly brings in £1m+. It is one reason why Houllier, speaking yesterday at a coaches conference in Geneva, excused England from his strongest criticisms of international friendlies.

Not that everyone in the England camp was disappointed. David Dunn was preparing to travel to London to visit his girlfriend when he was added to the depleted party. Dunn had been tipped to feature in the squad when it was first named but took a fatalistic view of his initial omission.

"If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen," he said after training. "I didn't think nothing of it and I was surprised to be called-up as a replacement. I was mentioned in connection with the World Cup squad last season but I wasn't ready. This year I've worked really hard on my fitness and I feel much better."

The 22-year-old is able to play anywhere across the midfield and has done already this season at Blackburn Rovers. With England short of quality players on both flanks it increases his chances of a run-out on Saturday but does, he admitted, make it harder to 'focus' on his preferred position of central midfield.

Dunn added: "But I'll play anywhere. I'll play in nets if he [Eriksson] wants." That is unlikely but it is the type of enthusiasm and commitment Eriksson, after his mauling from Ferguson, will be seeking this weekend.