Robinson turns back on England and Brown tells Capello he also wants out

Robinson won the last of his 41 caps almost three years ago in the Euro 2008 qualifying defeat to Russia and was totally overlooked by Fabio Capello for the first 18 months of his reign.

Although his cause was championed by Sam Allardyce, his manager at Blackburn, Capello never gave any impression of being convinced by the ex-Tottenham man and it was no surprise when he was omitted from the 23-man World Cup squad.

Even when he was chosen for next week's friendly with Hungary, it seemed fairly obvious his would be a supporting role to Joe Hart and Ben Foster, who are set to battle for the No 1 jersey.

Robinson clearly thought this way and having been surprised to be chosen, promptly made himself unavailable.

Last night, Manchester United defender Wes Brown, 30, followed suit. He visited the England team hotel in Watford to tell Capello in person.

Robinson, meanwhile, said in a statement: "I have taken the decision to retire from international football with immediate effect. Only now have I been able to make this decision as previously I haven't been in contention for selection.

"As a professional who wants to play every time I have the chance I don't see myself as a

No 3 or No 4 keeper and find that role very frustrating," he added.

"I haven't had the opportunity of anything other than this (not being first choice] in recent years therefore I feel it in the best interest of myself and my club Blackburn Rovers that I concentrate solely on my club football."

Given the unique nature of being a third-choice keeper – the question of whether you actually need one is raised by the fact Capello has not immediately called for a replacement – the England coach might have saved himself some unwanted publicity by giving Robinson a call to see if he was willing to do the job.

An even more pertinent point is that by losing another experienced goalkeeper, Capello is now exposed given doubts over his other two.

Hart is expected to start on Wednesday but he is by no means certain to emerge as first choice at Manchester City as Shay Given is his direct rival.

Foster would represent greater consistency given he was chosen by Capello for matches against Belarus and Brazil last year when Hart was available.

He gave up the unequal battle at Manchester United this summer and should be a regular at Birmingham, where he will fill the No 1 role Hart had last term on loan.

However, the 27-year-old has suffered from a succession of injuries in recent seasons and Capello cannot be guaranteed his fitness.

Having dumped Robert Green in the wake of his horrendous blunder against the United States and with Chris Kirkland previously ruling himself out on fitness grounds, the only other English Premier League goalkeepers are Scott Carson, who replaced Robinson for the pivotal Euro 2008 qualifier with Croatia and made the error that helped cost England a place in the Finals, Blackpool's Matthew Gilks, who has never played in the top flight, and Newcastle's 35-year-old stopper Steve Harper.

Even the two goalkeepers selected for England Under-21 duty against Uzbekistan tomorrow – Blackburn's Frankie Fielding and Alex McCarthy of Reading – are yet to play a first-team game for their parent clubs, having only gained such experience on loan.

It means Capello's handling of Robinson could yet return to haunt him, although first he must face a potentially volatile crowd at Wembley this week, with the Italian accepting judgment of this summer's efforts could be harsh from a crowd expected to be around 60,000.

"I understand the supporters," he said. "I think on Wednesday sometimes they may boo but we need the support of the fans.

"It is very important but I possibly expect them to boo on Wednesday because they had a lot of confidence in the team going into the World Cup and the results were not so good."

Brown's decision ends a 23-cap career which began against Hungary in 1999.

After not being involved in yesterday's Community Shield victory over Chelsea, presumably Brown felt there was little merit in pursuing an international career while his place at Manchester United is so fragile.

England's squad v Hungary

Foster (Birmingham)

Hart (Manchester City)

Cahill (Bolton)

A Cole (Chelsea)

Dawson (Tottenham)

Gibbs (Arsenal)

Jagielka (Everton)

G Johnson (Liverpool)

Terry (Chelsea)

Barry (Manchester City)

Gerrard (Liverpool)

A Johnson (Manchester City)

Lampard (Chelsea)

Milner (Aston Villa)

Young (Aston Villa)

Walcott (Arsenal)

Wilshere (Arsenal)

Bent (Sunderland)

C Cole (West Ham)

Rooney (Manchester United)

Zamora (Fulham)