BENT ON ENGLAND GLORY

DARREN BENT is set to earn his first England cap in a year against Germany on Wednesday.

But England coach Fabio Capello suffered a double blow when Manchesteer United duo Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand were ruled out of the match.

With Wigan's Emile Heskey also out, the Spurs striker is almost certain to get another chance.

But former skipper David Beckham will be forced to wait for his 108th cap to equal Bobby Moore's record for an England outfield player.

Capello is not prepared to include the LA Galaxy star in the squad while he is not playing regular first-team football.

Beckham will hope a loan spell with AC Milan in the New Year will be enough to earn a recall for February's friendly in Spain.

Capello insisted: "If you play you can be in the squad but Beckham played his last game three weeks ago.

"Now when he gets to Milan we need to check him. He needs to play."

Bent's call-up comes almost a year after he earned his last England cap as a substitute in the disastrous 3-2 European Championship qualifying defeat at Wembley by Croatia.

Capello said: "We have followed him over the last year and he has scored a lot of goals.

"He is a good player and that's why he is in the squad. We haven't Heskey so we needed one player and Bent is in good form.

"He is fast and has good movement with and without the ball and he's good at making space without the ball."

Bent's international days looked over while playing second fiddle to Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane at Tottenham last season.

But he has been on fire since the arrival of Harry Redknapp at White Hart Lane.

A flurry of goals, including a hat-trick against Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Cup, have taken him to 11 for the season.

Now he looks like earning his fourth cap after Manchester United star Rooney missed yesterday's 5-0 win over Stoke with a chest infection and a calf injury.

He was pulled from the squad by United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ferguson said: "Rio did his back in training on Friday and Wayne Rooney has a chest infection and a calf strain so we have pulled them out."

Chance

Bent, 24, is ready to take his chance.

He said: "Three weeks ago everything was going completely the other way and now everything seems to be going right.

"It's good times. I've imagined myself back in the England team and hoped Capello would keep watching me.

"It's fantastic to represent your country and I'm ready for my next chance.

"England have been playing fantastically over the past few months with good performances all over the place. But I am a better player now, more experienced and, psychologically, at my highest point ever.

"I assume I am going to do well and score against almost anyone."

Capello does not want to experiment too much because he wants to keep England's good run going and the players' confidence bubbling.

He added: "I think it is best to follow one road - the road that has brought us to the results and our confidence.

"I know that confidence is disappears more quickly than it appears."