Hammers keeper Green rewarded for fine form with England call up

8:30pm Sunday 31st August 2008

WEST HAM keeper Robert Green has been rewarded for his recent penalty heroics with a call up to the England squad.

The 28-year-old, who has one cap, has been continually overlooked by Three Lions boss Fabio Capello.

But the former Norwich stopper has been in great form, evident once again on Saturday where he made a fantastic penalty save and put in an impressive all-round performance against Blackburn which inspired the Irons to victory.

And that has seen him called into Capello's 23-man squad for the forthcoming 2010 World Cup qualifiers away to Andorra, in Barcelona on Saturday, and Croatia in Zagreb the following Wednesday.

He will challenge Portsmouth's David James and Blackburn's Paul Robinson for the number one jersey.

Hammers team mate Matthew Upson keeps his place in the squad, but there is no place for Dean Ashton, despite the forward scoring three goals in the east Londoners' three Premier League games this season.

Meanwhile, Irons midfielder Mark Noble is included in Stuart Pearce's 25-man England under-21 squad for the decisive last match of the Euro 2009 qualifier with Portugal.

The game will be played at Wembley on Friday. A draw for the Young Lions will guarantee a place in October's play-offs for the final round in Sweden next summer.