England's fragile fortunes

Owen is one hamstring strain from disaster

With David Beckham sidelined, BBC Sport Online profiles the form and fitness of England's other key players.

If anyone was in any doubt about the fragile foundations on which England's World Cup hopes are built, Pedro Duscher's tackle on David Beckham brought them sharply into perspective.

Beckham - in inspirational form for his country during World Cup qualifying - is now a major doubt for the tournament with a broken bone in his foot.

The talismanic skipper is one of only a handful of truly World class players available to Sven-Goran Eriksson - and if his team are to win the World Cup they all need to be fit and in top form.

The England coach has been careful not to over-work his players during recent get-togethers in the hope that they do not suffer from burn-out after a long season.

But, with the biggest tournament of them just weeks away, what sort of shape are England's key players in?

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Michael Owen

The Liverpool striker missed a hat-trick of excellent chances during his team's Champions League defeat against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

The diminutive striker then gave England fans an early glimpse of their nightmare scenario when he was taken to hospital for an X-ray on a suspected broken foot.

Thankfully, Owen - unlike Beckham - merely sustained bruising and could yet play for Liverpool against Sunderland this weekend.

The 22-year-old has a history of hamstring problems and missed England's key World Cup qualifier against Greece last year with a recurrence of the problem.

But, barring another twinge of the hamstring, Owen should be fit for the finals and has another five Premiership games to discover his best form.

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Steven Gerrard

The Liverpool midfielder is another vital cog in Eriksson's England midfield.

But he too is susceptible to injury and missed England's recent friendly against Italy with a groin strain.

Gerrard also missed a large chunk of February with a recurrence of the groin injury that has plagued his short career.

Gerrard is vulnerable to groin problems

Powerful in attack, capable of devastating rangy passes and with a real eye for goal, a fully-fit Gerrard is virtually guaranteed a starting berth in the line-up to play Sweden on 2 June.

Eriksson will be hoping that his most combative midfielder avoids injury over the closing stages of the season but knows that he can take nothing for granted.

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Rio Ferdinand

The Leeds United defender has matured as an international footballer under Eriksson and is set to marshal England's defence at the World Cup.

He has coped admirably with the pressure of his £18m price tag since joining Leeds from West Ham and is potentially England's most naturally-gifted ball playing centre-half since Bobby Moore.

Ferdinand is not particularly injury prone but does pick up the odd knock and - like Gerrard - missed the recent friendly with Italy.

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Kieron Dyer

Although relatively unproven at international level, Dyer is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in England.

His surging runs from midfield are capable of wreaking havoc amongst the most disciplined of defences and - with Beckham injured - he could have a key role to play at the finals.

Eriksson is desperate to have Dyer on the plane to Korea and Japan and named Dyer in the last England squad even though he was not quite fit enough to play against the Italians.

Fitness is undoubtedly Dyer's major problem.

He has only just recovered from a broken foot and has suffered from a succession of injury problems that have severely limited his availability.

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Paul Scholes

The Manchester United midfielder is perhaps England's most accomplished technician and scores vital goals with his ghosting runs from deep.

Scholes has a petulant streak

Unlike several of England key players Scholes is not particularly injury prone - but discipline problems could yet prove to be his World Cup Achilles heel.

Scholes missed Manchester United's Champions League match with Deportivo La Coruna through suspension and is prone to picking up needless yellow cards that could hamper his availability at the finals.