10 Players to replace Grandad Gary Neville

Following Steve McClaren's mini-cull, Gary Neville must be feeling a bit twitchy as the only player in the England squad aged over 30. The right-back position could become England's new problem position, so we look at the possible candidates to take Neville's place for the 2010 World Cup.

10 Players to replace Grandad Gary Neville continued

1 Micah Richards (Manchester City)
The 18-year-old made a big impression at the end of last season, which has earnt him a call up to the under 21 squad. He has shown a bit of a prima donna streak when he was linked with a move to Tottenham earlier in the summer, but has now signed a new four-year deal with City. Could be fast-tracked to the full squad by McClaren to shadow Neville.

2 Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich)
A victim of his own versatility, Hargreaves is another candidate to take over at right-back. He performed the role without too many problems against Ecuador in the World Cup, but left no doubts as to his favoured position with an excellent performance against Portugal in the holding midfield role. Hargreaves is still only 25 and will be at his peak in 2010.

3 Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
England's makeshift World Cup right-back has a three-year edge on Neville. He will still only be 32-years-old when the next World Cup comes round, which could convince McClaren to keep faith. He is solid defensively, but offers little going forwards.

4 Steven Taylor (Newcastle United)
Taylor broke into the Newcastle squad as a right-back and may have to do the same for England given some of the names ahead of him in the pecking order. A strong defender with an excellent recovery tackle.

5 Luke Young (Charlton Athletic)
One of Sven Goran Eriksson's favoured stand-in full-backs missed out on the World Cup through injury. He will be nearly 31 at South Africa 2010 and is in pole position having been named in Steve McClaren's first squad.

6 Glen Johnson (Portsmouth - on loan from Chelsea)
Johnson was once considered the shoo-in replacement for Neville, but has lost his way since moving to Stamford Bridge amid questions about his attitude. Regular first-team football at Portsmouth might get his career back on track and improve his England prospects.

7 Wes Brown (Manchester United)
The once dependent defender has never been the same since returning from a cruciate ligament injury. He is another defender who prefers to play at centre-back, but McClaren might have him pencilled in as a right back. He has been named in the squad to face Greece.

8 Phil Bardsley (Manchester United)
Neville's heir apparent at United is Phil Bardsley, so why not for England? He has always impressed in Neville's absence and - at 21 - is the right age for McClaren's building for the future manifesto.

9 Nicky Hunt (Bolton Wanderers)
The 22-year-old former under 21 international has become a regular in the Bolton side over the last three seasons. Last season was ruined by a spell out with a fractured leg.

10 Billy Jones (Crewe Alexandra)
England's former under 18 skipper models himself on Tony Adams, but can perform equally well at right-back or even in midfield. The youngster may have have to move off the Gresty Road production line sooner rather than later to give himself a chance of being in McClaren's thoughts.

Rob