DAVID Bentley's decision to pull out of the England Under-21 squad for the European Championships has caused quite a furore.

Stuart Pearce branded him a disgrace' during an interview on national radio, and the press then weighed in with various Baby Bentley' headlines.

But I really hope this whole episode will not affect David's chances of forging a career for himself at international level in the same way that Chris Sutton's decision to withdraw from an England B squad in 1998 effectively kyboshed his.

I was still at Rovers when Sutty turned down the chance to play for his country in the build-up to France 98, and though I never got the opportunity to sit down and talk to him about it one to one, I later got the sense he deeply regretted it.

At the time, Chris was one of the best strikers in the Premier League, and he had just been drafted into the senior England set-up by Glenn Hoddle for the first time in his career.

However, after playing just 11 minutes in a friendly against Cameroon, Sutty was then selected in the B squad against Chile - a decision he took great exception to because he obviously felt he hadn't been given a proper chance to do himself justice at senior level.

Incensed by what he perceived to be a demotion, Chris promptly announced his withdrawal from the squad, and from that moment on his international career lay in tatters.

I'm sure at the time, Chris felt he was doing the right thing, but that decision ended up backfiring on him.

English people are very patriotic and they consider the chance to represent your country as a major honour.

When someone snubs that, it provokes an angry reaction and Sutty got both barrels from the tabloid press for turning his back on his country.

But I'm convinced Sutty would have done a great job for England.

When we won the Premiership title in 1995, he and Alan Shearer were virtually unstoppable together up front, and it's a crying shame the SAS never got the opportunity to do the same on the international stage.

Now we must hope David Bentley's international career doesn't go the same way. The thing in David's favour is he withdrew from the Under 21s, not the B squad or the senior side.

On top of that, if you look at the circumstances, there appears to be some justification for it.

Bentley was the only member of the Under 21 squad who had also been selected for both the senior squad and the B side this summer.

Also, while the rest of the squad will be allowed to report back slightly later for pre-season training with their respective clubs, he will be required for an important Intertoto Cup date with Blackburn at the end of July, which means he would've got barely a week off.

On that basis, I think it was the right decision to pull out, but he made it at the wrong time.

He should have told Stuart Pearce before the squad was announced.

That way, Pearce might not have reacted quite as angrily as he did as he would have had time to find a replacement.