England pass on May friendly

Following the decision to scrap a proposed trip to Thailand, due to be played after the Switzerland match, arranged in the hope of gaining a vote in the doomed 2018 World Cup bid, coach Fabio Capello was considering whether to arrange a warm-up game for players who have two weeks between their final Premier League match and the Switzerland encounter.

However, with four English clubs remaining in the Champions League, the final of which will be played at Wembley on May 28, there was always a question mark about such a game being worthwhile.

And after examining a number of options, a meeting of the Club England board has decided not to pursue the matter further, meaning Capello’s squad will presumably not meet up until the evening of May 30.

It had already been decided the Thailand fixture would not be replaced, with some members of Capello’s senior squad, notably Jack Wilshere, possibly heading off to Denmark for the European Under-21 Championships.