England's worst ever players: Michael Ricketts, Scott Carson, Jon Flanagan and more

How did Carlton Cole and Jason Wilcox ever play for their country?

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  Michael Ricketts: The most infamous of the bunch? Ricketts was your archetypal one-season wonder – with his coming for Bolton in 2001-02 when he scored 12 Premier League goals. It earned him a call-up for a friendly against the Netherlands in February 2002 in which he started, was taken off at half time and didn’t score again that season, and barely did for the rest of his career with just nine more Premier League goals to follow and a descent into the lower leagues. Getty Images

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  Seth Johnson: Retired by the age of 28 through injury but at least he had an England cap to his name after facing Italy in 2000. The midfielder is largely remembered for being paid a lot of money at Leeds United but playing very little between 2001 and 2005. Allsport

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  Carlton Cole: Far from a one-cap wonder, the striker actually went on to play for England seven times, including six games in 2009. Based on what? He reached double figures for Premier League goals in a season twice at West Ham, though a career total of 67 in 348 games is best not spoken about. Showed occasional flashes of skill but was difficult to catagorise – neither an outstanding target man or goal poacher. Getty Images

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  Anthony Gardner: It says something when a sports writer has to look up a former Premier League player and England international from the past two decades. I could remember he was a defender, but a look at his stats show why he was forgotten – just one season as a regular at Tottenham, another semi-regular campaign at Hull and then a drop into the second tier. His sole England cap was against Sweden in 2004. Getty Images

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  Matt Jarvis: Falls into the “tricky” winger category rather than outright skilful, he made his only England appearance against Ghana at Wembley in March 2011. He was at Wolves at the time, for whom he performed reasonably well for three Premier League seasons before joining West Ham and then moving on to Norwich. Getty Images

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  Jason Wilcox: Made a name for himself by landing crosses on the head of Alan Shearer at Blackburn Rovers as they won the Premier League in 1995. Won three caps amid England’s non-existent depth when it came to left-footers. Clive Brunskill /Allsport

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  Paul Konchesky: A robust left-back who had a decent career in the Premier League across clubs such as West Ham, Fulham and Liverpool. He made his England debut against Australia in 2003 and won a second cap against Argentina in 2005. Limited with the ball at his feet, Roberto Carlos he was not. Getty Images

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  Gavin McCann: He admits that he can’t really call himself an England player after a solitary cap awarded in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s first match in charge in 2001. He didn’t quite make the grade at Everton, impressed at Sunderland and then suffered numerous injuries at Aston Villa before seeing out his career at Bolton. Sadly not in the same quality bracket as Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes. Allsport

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  Geoff Thomas: Has raised millions of pounds for blood cancer charities since surviving leukaemia in 2003. His best spell on the pitch came for Crystal Palace between 1987 and 1993 which led to his international call-up. Sadly, the most memorable moment of his England career was when he was put through in goal against France, tried to chip the keeper and fluffed it big time. Allsport

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  Scott Carson: A bad period for England goalkeepers saw manager Steve McClaren turn to Carson for a key Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia. He palmed a speculative long shot into the net, England lost and McClaren was fired the following day. He totalled four caps and enjoyed a stint in Turkey, but was never going to be a long-term solution. Getty Images

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  John Ruddy: A few reasonable seasons in goal for Norwich City won him a place in Roy Hodgson’s squad in 2012 and he made his only appearance against Italy in Switzerland. Norwich were later relegated, promoted, relegated again and then he won promotion with Wolves who promptly replaced him as number 1. Getty Images

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  Nicky Shorey: The shortage of left-footers in the English game saw the Reading full back turn out in the first match at the new Wembley Stadium against Brazil on June 1, 2007. He earned a second cap against Germany two months later. Hard to fault, but international class? Probably not. Getty Images

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  Luke Young: If Gary Neville set the bar for the international quality right backs, Young was sadly a few rungs down. Still, he spent 14 years in the Premier League at Tottenham, Charlton, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and QPR. A solid club footballer. He played seven times for England in 2005 but just didn’t fit in a squad containing David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen. Getty Images

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  Zat Knight: Some decent showings for Fulham earned him two caps in 2005, and later a move to Aston Villa before spending the majority of the remainder of his career at Bolton. Best known for his transfer to Fulham from semi-pro team Rushall Olympic which came in exchange for 30 tracksuits. Action Images

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  Jay Bothroyd: Became Cardiff City’s first England international when he played 18 minutes of a 2-1 friendly defeat to France in 2010. He scored just six Premier League goals across stints at Coventry, Blackburn, Charlton and QPR, though fared better in the second tier. He’s now scoring regularly, aged 36, in Japan. Getty Images

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  Fraizer Campbell: One of those strikers who doesn’t score many. His Premier League season’s best is six – for Cardiff City in 2013-14. His England call up came in February 2012 after six league goals in four years. Getty Images

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  Jon Flanagan: You’d expect Liverpool players to be instant candidates for the England squad given the quality it generally takes to get in their side. The full-back had one regular spell in the Liverpool team in 2013-14 which led to a call-up and single cap. He totalled just 40 games for Liverpool in seven years and is now at Rangers. Getty Images

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  Barry Venison: Great hair style, very average footballer. He played once for England in 1994 and again in 1995 under Terry Venables.

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  Chris Powell: Picked by Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2001 at the age of 31 to the surprise of the whole country, except maybe fans of Charlton Athletic for whom he was playing for. Won five caps. Surely England could produce better left-backs? They didn’t – see Paul Konchesky and Nicky Shorey. Allsport

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  Dominic Solanke – The young Liverpool striker has time on his side – of that there is no doubt. Hopefully he’ll have some goals on his side too, having scored just once in English football to go with seven in Holland for Vitesse. But one goal is all it takes to be picked for England these days and so he was in November 2017, coming off the bench against Brazil. Getty Images

England went into their recent Nations League fixture against Spain with only three attacking players – Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck.

Kane is among the top strikers in the world, Rashford has plenty of potential but features mainly as a substitute for Manchester United, while Welbeck has a strong international record but plays a bit-part at Arsenal.

Behind them, manager Gareth Southgate's squad contained only five midfielders.

Raheem Sterling was missing due to injury and fellow striker Jamie Vardy recently announced his retirement from England duty.

We know all about the influx of foreign players into the Premier League and how the selection pool is becoming ever smaller to pick from.

But at least Southgate is not handing out international caps to all and sundry, unlike a number of his predecessors. Leicester City's Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray have been promoted from the under 21s for Tuesday night's friendly with Switzerland and the pair have limited Premier League experience, though Southgate is truly down to the bare bones – so much so that there is no replacement for the newly-injured Dele Alli.

England fans have had to sit through some turgid friendlies during the past couple of decades, ruined largely by what felt like endless substitutions. And this resulted in many players taking home the prized cap, while how deserving they were of then being branded an "England international" has been open to great debate.

So, take a look at the slideshow above to see which players we feel were fortunate to wear the three lions as one of England's elite.

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Read more:

Nations League defeat to Spain highlights England's shortcomings against the elite

Gareth Southgate's England challenge: to ensure a rise is not followed by a fall

Uefa Nations League – a welcome addition or calendar clutter?