ENGLAND boss Sven Goran Eriksson is backing David Thompson to succeed where Lee Bowyer and Joe Cole have failed as he steps up his preparations ahead of Saturday's European Qualifier in Slovakia.

Eriksson surprised several pundits when he overlooked Bowyer and Cole in favour of the Rovers midfielder when Trevor Sinclair was forced to pull out of the squad through injury on Monday.

However, the Swede has justified his decision in the frankest possible terms by insisting Thompson deserved his chance because he was the man in form.

"When you talk about qualification games, the job is to pick the best team for that moment," said Eriksson.

"You don't necessarily have to do that if you're talking about going to Japan for the World Cup when you have three weeks to work with the players - then things can change.

"But you can't change anything if you're talking about a qualification game.

"We only have three full days to prepare so you have to take the best at that moment.

"We can always discuss who is in the best form but I have to follow the ideas in my head.

"Maybe it won't help Bowyer regain confidence. I am sure he will be picked again but I'm sure that he can play better than he is doing at the moment.

"He played better last season.

"I also hope that Joe Cole one day will be a regular player for this England team.

"He has the quality to do it but at the moment he is not playing as well as he can do.

"When I pick players, I have no opinion other than whether they are in good shape or not.

"If you know that players are not 100 per cent I don't think it's fair to pick them."

Thompson has certainly shown his form for Rovers in recent weeks, scoring three times in his seven games to date.

And he recently out-shone Bowyer when he turned in a man-of-the-match performance in Rovers' 1-0 win over Leeds at Ewood in front of the watching Eriksson.

Eriksson has indicated that Gary Neville is set to return to the England side.

Eriksson was impressed with the consistent displays of Leeds full-back Danny Mills during the World Cup last summer, when Neville was recovering from injury to his foot.

However, the England coach appears to believe that the Manchester United defender's natural link-up play with David Beckham holds the key to him reclaiming his place.