England came from behind to beat Egypt 3-1 on Wednesday night and TEAMtalk's Mark Holmes can see now who he wants on the plane to South Africa.

England are among the favourites to win the World Cup this summer and quite rightly so too with the form Wayne Rooney is in.

However, there are 10 places up for grabs behind Rooney and next to nobody is making a strong case to win one.

Attack

Peter Crouch did his chances no harm with another two goals against the Egyptians but Fabio Capello obviously isn't convinced by the Tottenham frontman and you can't help but feel he's praying for someone else to make a claim.

But who? Jermain Defoe has blown too many chances and Darren Bent and Gabby Agbonlahor appear out of the running so that leaves Carlton Cole, Emile Heskey or, as Ian Watson suggested on Wednesday, Steven Gerrard.

My preference would also be for Gerrard to be given a free role behind Rooney but Capello hasn't given any indication he's willing to try that so we're back to Cole or Heskey.

Cole has barely been given a sniff, though, so that leaves us with the very real possibility of going to South Africa with a first-choice striker that doesn't score. Smashing!

Midfield

The midfield is a different conundrum as we've got a handful of players of similar quality vying for two places alongside Frank Lampard and Gerrard, who like it or not, will almost certainly start in the centre and on the left when we open against the United States.

Theo Walcott started on the right against Egypt but was woeful as he has been for Arsenal and shouldn't even be a consideration in my eyes at the moment.

Shaun Wright-Phillips replaced him and was far more impressive but he's inconsistent and not good enough to start in South Africa in my opinion. Personally, I'm a big fan of James Milner but pace isn't his strongest asset and we're already short of that on one flank so the options are few and far between.

Aaron Lennon is the most obvious bet but there's still time for Joe Cole and Ashley Young to find some form, while Capello has quite rightly been keeping an eye on Adam Johnson and Matthew Etherington too.

The latter two are left footed but they are at least out-and-out wingers and shouldn't be ruled out just yet, particularly as I'd like to see Gerrard up front anyway.

In the centre we've got Gareth Barry as Lampard's regular partner and I doubt that'll change to be honest but Barry isn't in the best of form for Manchester City and Michael Carrick's performance from the bench on Wednesday might have Capello wondering.

Milner and David Beckham are the other options and I don't think there's much to choose between any of them to be honest so I hope Capello lives up to his promise of picking the man in form. If the US game was tomorrow I'd plump for Lampard and Carrick.

Defence

Moving on to the defence and that's where are real problems start. John Terry has clearly been affected by his personal problems and Rio Ferdinand is injured and out of form anyway so could we see one of those replaced in the side?

You can't really make a case for either based on performances but it'd take a brave man to drop one in South Africa and go with less experience.

Ryan Shawcross has probably been the most outstanding English centre-half this season but he hasn't even been capped yet so that leaves the likes of Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott fighting for a place and I don't think either are good enough personally, particularly in the latter's case.

The problems don't end there either because our one world-class full-back Ashley Cole is injured and his deputy is out of the picture so we've now got Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock, with two caps between them, fighting it out for the left-back spot.

Let's assume Glen Johnson is given the number two shirt and try not to worry too much about his (questionable) defensive qualities. Wes Brown will go as his deputy and won't let us down.

Goalkeepers

We've got problems here too but Rob Green looks favourite for the number one jersey at the moment and, although I'm not his biggest fan, he's steady and shouldn't let us down.

David James will be the experienced deputy and Joe Hart the third choice, but I'd love to see the latter given a chance if he carries on the form he's been showing for Birmingham.

My 23 for SA

Green, James, Hart; Ferdinand, Terry, Upson, Ashley Cole, Baines, Glen Johnson, Brown; Gerrard, Lampard, Milner, Beckham, Carrick, Barry, Lennon, Joe Cole, Adam Johnson; Rooney, Heskey, Crouch, Defoe.

Most managers take eight defenders, seven midfielders and five attackers but I'd sacrifice Carlton Cole and a reserve defender to take a chance on Adam Johnson and get Beckham in there too.