There is sadly no room in Sven-Goran Eriksson's 20-man squad for Michael Carrick, while Jermain Defoe is expected to be named in David Platt's under-21 team to face Yugoslavia at Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium on Friday night.
With David Seaman surprisingly left out and Eriksson having named only two goalkeepers - the other being Leeds' Paul Robinson, the friendly against the Euro 2004 hosts is likely to provide James with the chance to stake his claim as England's number one for the qualifying campaign, while Sinclair and Cole will also be confident of winning their 10th and eighth caps respectively.
The major news surrounding the squad is the inclusion of Leeds duo Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, who finally look set to relaunch their international careers following their highly-publicised court case last year.
Squad
Goalkeepers: David James (West Ham), Paul Robinson (Leeds United)
Defenders: Danny Mills (Leeds United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Gareth Southgate (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Leeds United), Wayne Bridge (Southampton)
Midfielders: Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), David Beckham (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Danny Murphy (Liverpool), Trevor Sinclair (West Ham), Lee Bowyer (Leeds United), Nicky Butt (Manchester United), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle), Joe Cole (West Ham)
Strikers: Emile Heskey (Liverpool), Michael Owen (Liverpool), Alan Smith (Leeds United)