Captain David Beckham, Wayne Bridge and Chris Kirkland return but Robert Green, Sol Campbell, Ledley King (knee) and Darius Vassell are out with injury.

Sven told TheFA.com that while Green’s injury is unfortunate, he remains part of the plans going forward. He described this though as a ‘good chance’ for Chris Kirkland.

Sven also had a word of encouragement for Crystal Palace’s Andy Johnson, whom he says has had an ‘excellent’ start to the season before revealing that he and his coaching staff will be keeping an eye on the player over the next couple of months.

“I am expecting a tough match in Madrid,” Sven told us. “Spain are always strong opposition with some outstanding individual players. We have seen the quality of Reyes and Alonso here in the Premiership and they have a good balance of youth and experience.

“However, we have a very settled squad with many players who are both young and experienced. We have had a very good start to the World Cup qualifying campaign with 10 points from 12 after three away matches, and confidence in the group is very good.

“It is nice to have David Beckham back with us after his injury. I’m sure he and Michael Owen will be especially motivated for this game.

“I’m delighted that Michael has found his goal-scoring form at Real Madrid. He has shown his determination to be successful there and I never doubted that he would do well. It is always difficult in the beginning to adjust to a new team, language and culture.

“In defence we are obviously missing Sol Campbell. His absence would be felt by any team, and it is shame we miss Ledley King too but we are lucky to have many excellent players in central defence with Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Jamie Carragher and Matthew Upson coming back in now too. All of them are top, top players.

“Also Wayne Bridge has come back from injury which gives us some interesting options on the left side.”

The England Squad
Paul Robinson - Tottenham Hotspur
David James - Manchester City
Chris Kirkland - Liverpool
Ashley Cole - Arsenal
Matt Upson - Birmingham City
Wayne Bridge - Chelsea
John Terry - Chelsea
Jamie Carragher - Liverpool
Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United
Gary Neville - Manchester United
Phil Neville - Manchester United
Jermaine Jenas - Newcastle United
David Beckham - Real Madrid
Owen Hargreaves - Bayern Munich
Nicky Butt - Newcastle United
Joe Cole - Chelsea
Frank Lampard - Chelsea
Shaun Wright Phillips - Manchester City
Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
Alan Smith - Manchester United
Michael Owen - Real Madrid
Jermain Defoe - Tottenham Hotspur