THE FA PLAY IT COOL

The FA's communication chief Paul Newman said.

"Of course Sven is disappointed that Paul won't be linking-up with the
England squad to prepare for Saturday's match, just as he is about the
absence of his skipper David Beckham. But to suggest that there is an on-
going argument between Sven and Alex about the availability of certain
United players for this weekend's friendly is simply not correct.

"Sven will conduct his usual pre-match Press conference tomorrow (Friday)
and he may well take the opportunity to air his views on players being
withdrawn by their clubs from international get-togethers.

"But he has certainly made no comments on the issue as yet so where these
reports have come from of a confrontation with Sir Alex is a complete mystery
to me."