by CARL ELDRIDGE Paul Robinson is facing World Cup heartache by being left out of Fabio Capello's squad for South Africa. Former Three Lions keeper Peter Shilton reckons the Italian manager looks set to give Rob Green, David James and Joe Hart the nod meaning the Blackburn Rovers No.1, a former England regular with 41 caps, won't make the plane this summer.

 

West Ham ace Rob Green played in the recent 3-1 friendly win over Egypt with James and Hart on the bench. And Shilton, who played 125 times for his country, says Capello appears to have made up his mind on his squad's keepers.

 

"We don't appear to have a definite No.1 at the moment, like Italy have Gianluigi Buffon for instance. There seemed to be five in the frame but Capello doesn't seem keen on Robinson and Ben Foster is not getting games at Manchester United so it does look as if it will be James, who has good experience, Green and Hart, who has come on with some marvelous performances for Birmingham City. 

 

"And you have to say that Capello's decision making has been faultless so we have to back him on his squad once he names it. You can't have asked for more from Capello. He has set his stall out and improved us and we're looking good."

 

Shilton also reckons the situation surround John Terry, who lost the skipper's armband after the Wayne Bridge row,  will die down in time for whatever keeper starts to play behind a unified defence. "John Terry has been through it one way or another and you just hope that the fans and the media will ease off by the World Cup and that the players get the chance to try to win it and, of course they have a real chance."

*England sponsor Nationwide Building Society have produced the world's largest England shirt which is touring the country before it heads to South Africa. Go to www.nationwidefootball.co.uk

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by CARL ELDRIDGE One Arsene Wenger, there's only one Arsene Wenger. Good job too because if there were two the other would no doubt be pulling the strings at Real Madrid.

 

Luckily for us the first and original AW is the King of N5 and he has decreed, via this morning's papers, that he belongs to the Arsenal, even if Madrid do again come calling this summer following yet another Champions League failure.

The Daily Telegraph says AW turned down the chance of masterminding Florentino Pérez’s spending spree at Real last summer and, even after buying Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Kaka and Xabi Alonso, they were eliminated on Wednesday at the last-16 stage of the Champions League for a sixth consecutive season.

And that shock exit has left manager Manuel Pellegrini under huge pressure but AW has no interest in leaving the Arsenal. “I am always going to the end of my contract and I am going until 2011 – there is no way. A message for Madrid? Yes, leave me alone.

“It shows in Europe you have no guarantee,” he said. “£240 million doesn’t buy you the Champions League necessarily. If you can spend it every year you will get there. But it is the first year with Pérez back and you have to give him time. He only has to invest again next year, so I think they will be a force again.

"At the moment I focus on Hull City. Maybe less glamorous than Real Madrid but they are much more important in my life at the moment."

Of course, Hull await and AW has been quick to draw a line under the recent rows we have had with them. Both clubs were fined by the FA for failing to control players during the match at the Emirates when there was a melee after Samir Nasri stood on Richard Garcia's foot.

And last season Cesc Fabregas was cleared following an independent inquiry after allegations he spat at Hull assistant boss Brian Horton in the tunnel following their FA Cup quarter-final tie.

In the Sun, AW insists he is not one to hold a grudge and has no issue with Phil Brown -- who, the paper says, hit out at him for refusing to shake his hand after that game.

AW said: "We don't make a special fuss of anything, we just try to play football. I respect everybody in life, and I don't make any special issue of that. We have to focus on what is the most important, which is that the people who pay to come to watch a football game get something for their money. That is what we always try to do."

Wenger added: "We do not focus on bad blood. We just focus on our game and try to play well. In fact, if you look at what happened — there was not a lot. Nobody has been injured, there was a little brawl at some stage where we got punished, them as well, but the game was not dirty."

On to the Mail which reports that AW will sit down next week with Bill Gallas in an attempt to thrash out a new contract. The paper says the 32-year-old France international is running down his existing deal with and will be a free agent at the end of June.

Talks have been ongoing for some time but AW is hopeful we will reach a conclusion soon. It is believed that we will break our unofficial rule of only offering one-year deals to players over 30. AW said:  'Our desire is to keep William here and I think he wants to stay. He's under contract until June but we have not found an agreement yet. I will meet his agent again next Thursday and try to find a solution.'

Meanwhile, in the Mirror, AW says Tuesday night’s 5-0 demolition of Porto, which gave us a Champions League quarter-final slot, saved Lukasz Fabianski from being haunted by our 2-1 first-leg defeat for the rest of his career.

The red top says Fabianski had a nightmare in Portugal, and AW said: “I think the result on Tuesday night helped him to recover. I fear it would have had long-standing consequences for him mentally if we had gone out because he is a very conscientious guy, very intelligent but also very sensitive. When you have guilt, it can damage your confidence, so I believe it was very important for the team to go through.”

Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out of the trip to the KC Stadium with a sore hamstring, while Tomas Rosicky (groin) and Bacary Sagna (ankle) are doubtful and Alex Song is suspended

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