Phil Jagielka says Ashley Cole is still England's best left-back despite brilliant form of Leighton Baines
Phil Jagielka believes injured Ashley Cole will deserve to regain the England left-back position from rival Leighton Baines when he is fit again.
Phil Jagielka has said that his team-mate Leighton Baines does not deserve to displace Ashley Cole at left-back for England.
Baines is set to make only his fifth competitive England appearance against Montenegro on Friday because Cole is unavailable with a rib injury but Jagielka, who lines up at centre-back with Gary Cahill, says he can understand why his colleague has been left on the sidelines.
There has been a growing clamour for Roy Hodgson to select Baines ahead of Cole after two excellent seasons with Everton but the 28-year-old has only 19 caps to his name since making his debut against Egypt in March 2010.
His statistics last season make far more impressive reading than Cole’s, with one of his eight goals coming against Moldova in the World Cup qualifier, and the next two qualifiers will provide Baines with a chance to apply further pressure on his direct rival.
While Jagielka is hoping Baines can stake a major claim when the pair line up in a reshaped back four at Wembley, he recognises that Cole has been virtually immovable for the best part of a decade.
He said: “It is a difficult one because I think Ashley has performed to levels that he does not deserve to lose his place and Bainesy is one of my closest friends.
"He has been fantastic for us at Everton, player of the year for the last few seasons, but unfortunately for him, the person he has tried to nudge out of the way has also performed very well, particularly in an England shirt. It is hard to say that directly to Bainesy, but he has had to be a little bit patient.
“Do you get a place in the team and keep it until you deserve to lose it? Or do you get a place in the team and lose it because you have done nothing wrong but someone else is potentially liked more by the press or coaching staff?
"Bainesy takes our free kicks and penalties and it was widely publicised he was one of the leading chance makers in the three divisions. Maybe we rely more on Bainesy to create chances than what Chelsea would with Ash.”
While Baines is preparing for a rare international opportunity for two potentially pivotal games, the scrutiny is far more likely to be on England goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Hart has endured a difficult start to this season, committing high-profile errors against Bayern Munich and Everton, and Jagielka revealed Hart has been unable to escape being targeted by his own team-mates.
“It is the same old Joe and we’ve not tiptoed around him. He’s someone who loves the banter more than anyone,” he said. “He has been his bubbly self and we had a game of table tennis on Monday night and he battered me at that.
“I was losing 10-9 and you just throw it in when you’re waiting for the next point, I just said ‘Bayern Munich’ or something like that. Then obviously he comes back to me and they beat us 3-1 at the weekend so I didn’t have a leg to stand on. Joe’s a great guy and a fantastic goalkeeper and if he can take it like he has done all the power to him.”
