Curbs hopes Bent will play tonight

Alan Curbishley has expressed his surprise that Darren Bent did not feature for England against Austria. He told Sky Sports: 'I thought he had'd have got a chance at the weekend to be fair. He's on top of his game at the moment and fully, fully, fit but wasn't used.'

The Addicks supremo continued, 'I hope he'll be involved tonight and I hope he gets used. It's all a bonus to him at the moment. He's so happy with the first couple of months of life in the Premiership and long may it continue.'

Curbs also spoke up for Sven Goran Eriksson, stating his fear that there is an agenda within the media to depose him. He believes that the English team manager is being unfairly treated in the press.

'Since Sven has been in charge, he's qualified for the World Cup in Japan, which we didn't think we were going to do when he took over. He's qualified for the Euros and now he's qualified for the World Cup. On the face of it, every competition he's been involved in, and asked to qualify for, he's done.'

'We're there again with a group of players that fancy their chances, I think they really do. If everyone stays fit, and there's a long way to go, then who knows?'

The fact that four Charlton players are seriously mentioned in connection with the World Cup squad (Darren Bent, Danny Murphy, Jerome Thomas and Luke Young) shows the progress made by Charlton under Curbs. Perhaps one day he will have the chance to do the same for England.