Rather bad news about Aaron Lennon today. I thought he might be our deadly weapon against the Croats next month….

Tonight the England team play their first proper competitive match since the World Cup debacle. It feels rather odd not travelling to the game as I have attended the vast majority of England away games in the last 5 years. The Macedonians have taken points off us in the past so I will be hoping for a solid performance tonight.

The England team certainly appears more balanced in recent games. This may be due to the proper deployment of wingers or a slight change in personnel. ?Influence of Mr Venables. In particular, I am hoping Jermaine Defoe has a good game this evening. It was always puzzling to me why he was left out of the last two tournament squads. I was in Gothenburg in March 2004 when he came on early in the game. He played very well that evening – sharp, not afraid to shoot. Clearly, Eriksson was less impressed than me (and many others).

Come on England… 2008 Alpine triumph awaits