England line up B international

Eriksson is keen to give his squad players a run-out

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson wants to play a B international against Belarus to give fringe players some match practice ahead of the World Cup.

The Football Association is in talks with a view to arranging the game on 25 May, in or near London.

England have arranged warm-up games with Hungary and Jamaica but can only use six substitutes in each match.

And Eriksson believes it will be vital for all of his squad to have a run-out before the World Cup begins on June.

He explained: "The season finishes for most players on 7 May and Fifa have not said yes to our proposal to use as many players as we want in the friendly games.

"So we could come to the World Cup with players not seeing any football since 7 May."

England have not played a B international since April 1998 when Matt Le Tissier scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Russia - but still missed out on Glenn Hoddle's squad for the 1998 World Cup finals.

Chris Sutton's England career effectively ended in the same year when he refused a call-up to another of Hoddle's B squads.