THE champagne was on ice at the Reebok this morning in anticipation of Scott Sellars' name featuring in Kevin Keegan's first England squad.

Discounted as wild speculation on Tuesday, acknowledged as a feasible solution to a particular problem yesterday, talk of the Wanderers' skipper being the surprise package in the squad for the Euro qualifier against Poland intensified today.

Sellars' name figured in a number of "possibles" in the national media this morning, hours before Keegan was due to announce his squad for the game at Wembley on Saturday week.

Colin Todd was also waiting for the announcement of the Denmark squads for their qualiifiers - full internationals and U-21 - against Italy before confirming the anticipated postponement on the March 27 home fixture against Bristol City.

Goalkeepers Jussi Jaaskelainen (Finland) and Birkir Kristinsson (Iceland) are racing 'certs' but three international calls are required before a club can call for a postponement so confirmation was needed of Danish manager Bo Johansson including either Per Frandsen or Claus Jensen or both in his squads.

Meanwhile Robbie Elliott is gearing up to resume his personal rivalry with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

The former Newcastle defender, who has personal experience of high profile North-east derbies, is expected to be recalled to replace the injured Mike Whitlow after being dropped and suspended for the last two Bolton games.

Colin Todd is unlikely to make any other changes to the side that beat QPR 2-1 on Saturday to end a run of five games without a win. z

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