Jay Bothroyd included in Fabio Capello's England squad

[Rappy Veteran]

England boss Fabio Capello has made Cardiff striker Jay Bothroyd one of four new additions to his squad for Wednesday's friendly against France.

Also called up for the first time are Newcastle striker Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson of Sunderland, and Manchester United defender Chris Smalling.

The quartet's opportunity comes as part of a much-changed squad.

Carroll and Henderson had been widely tipped to feature, but the inclusion of Bothroyd and Smalling is a surprise.

Capello has made a total of nine changes to the squad initially announced for last month's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

Manchester City full-back Micah Richards, who has never previously featured under the Italian, is included alongside Arsenal duo Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs.

Arguably the most notable omission is Kevin Davies, who could be forgiven for feeling hard done by after scoring twice in front of Capello for Bolton in their recent 4-2 win over Tottenham.

Liverpool duo Joe Cole and Glen Johnson are overlooked, although the latter has only just recovered from a groin injury.

Should Bothroyd feature in a team where the accent appears to be firmly on youth, he would become the first Championship player to receive a cap since David Nugent, then of Preston, scored in a 3-0 win over Andorra in Barcelona in March 2007.

The Cardiff striker, who has previously played for Coventry, Charlton and Wolves, and also had a short spell in Italy with Perugia, has scored 15 goals already this season.

A double at Scunthorpe on Saturday means Bothroyd, who is the first Cardiff City player to receive an England call-up in the club's 111-year history, has now scored in seven consecutive games for the Bluebirds.

Even so, his case has undoubtedly been helped by the absence through injury of fellow strikers Wayne Rooney, Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe and Bobby Zamora.

Less surprising is the inclusion of Carroll, which is likely to be warmly received by Newcastle manager Chris Hughton.

"It would be a very proud moment for this football club," said Hughton on Saturday when asked about the possibility of Carroll's selection.

"For a young man to have the opportunity to represent his country, particularly with the amount of quality strikers there are around, then it would be a very proud day for him and the club."

Hughton's sentiments are likely to be echoed by Sunderland's Steve Bruce and Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson, respectively the managers of Henderson and Smalling at club level.

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce has apparently provided Capello with favourable reports about both players.

England squad for the international friendly against France at Wembley on Wednesday, November 17:

Foster (Birmingham), Hart (Man City), Green (West Ham); Gibbs (Arsenal), Cole (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Jagielka (Everton), Lescott (Man City), Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Smalling (Man Utd); Walcott (Arsenal), Wilshere (Arsenal), Young (Aston Villa), Gerrard (Liverpool), Barry (Man City), Johnson (Man City), Milner (Man City), Henderson (Sunderland); Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Bothroyd (Cardiff), Carroll (Newcastle), Crouch (Tottenham).

[BGM]

he indeed a surprise, but gotta have the fringe players come through at some point :D

i don't expect he will feature for any major part.. although having said that France are quite **** at the moment, so who knows

[WelshBluebird]

Very happy for him. Can't say he doesn't deserve it either, he's in brilliant form right now (and is the pillar of our team really).

Only downside is that it may bring him into an even bigger spotlight in terms of clubs looking at him. There's already rumours of premier league scots looking at him (including one from Man Utd). Just hope that we can hold onto him until the end of the season.