England watch - David Nugent
Nugent has been capped at under-21 level
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Wednesday, 04, Oct 2006 12:42
With Jermain Defoe, Andrew Johnson and Darren Bent seemingly destined never to earn permanent favour in the England setup, there is a definite place up for grabs in the squad's attacking department.
And while the Premiership is unquestionably the place to be seen, one player in the Championship appears to have all the attributes and promise to make a splash on Steve McClaren's plans, maybe not for the qualifiers to Austria and Switzerland in two years' time but certainly for South Africa in 2010.
Seventh up on our England watch - a widely sought-after striker currently setting the Championship alight with his strikes, wonder ones no less.
Name: David Nugent
Position: Forward
Club: Preston North End
Age at start of South Africa 2010: 25
Billy Davies may have appeared to take everything but the kitchen sink with him when he swapped Deepdale for Pride Park in the summer, but perhaps the most valuable piece of furniture to be found in Preston's ranks remained firmly installed. David Nugent's name has topped poll after poll of 'best strikers outside the Premiership', and helped numerous transfer gossip columnists to some easy column inches since Davies signed him in a £100,000 deal from lowly Bury less than two years ago.
Nugent's overall goalscoring record for Preston - 22 in 57 starts and 12 substitute appearances - is good rather than stunning, but notional valuations of £4 million for the scouser have not been bandied around for no good reason. Playing in a side which, while deservedly winning plaudits over the last couple of years, has proved more workmanlike than free-flowing he has shone by playing with an endeavour and graft which match the twinkling feet and swagger of a man who knows he has what it takes to prosper.
His has, in many ways, been a curious case. Despite being on top of most scouts' wishlists from the middle of the Premiership downwards he is yet to complete anything like a full season at Championship level, having turned out 21 times - scoring an impressive eight goals - in 2004/5 after his January arrival before seeing his 2005/6 campaign take on a singularly bittersweet taste.
After a decent start to the season - scoring four times in August, including a stunning brace at Ipswich - he was laid low for seven weeks with the debilitating impetigo virus, which affected both his form and availability. After blowing hot and cold either side of the Christmas period he returned to form with, amazingly, another superbly-taken double against the Tractor Boys in March before fracturing his metatarsal in the same match. Exhibiting powers of recovery which were to inspire Wayne Rooney in the months to come he was back in action just over six weeks later, shrugging off any rustiness to score a mesmerising solo effort in his side's ill-fated play-off tie with Leeds.
To date this season he is yet to build on two clinically-taken goals scored at Wolves - but nobody who watches Nugent is in any doubt about where his future lies. Alongside his pace and verve he exhibits a noticeable cockiness - one manifested in the bow he took in front of the home fans in that match at Portman Road - but this is balanced delicately with a genuine honesty, a willingness to take the knocks and blows which rain down in any given Championship match, a determination to lead the line and take responsibility for himself and those around him.
The quality of Nugent's goals - typically incisive finishes with either foot, showing a willingness to shoot early before a goalkeeper's feet are set - is undoubted, but what he now needs is more of them. A season uninterrupted by illness and injury would help, and granted this he needs to confirm expectations that - as well as a terrific all-rounder and undoubted talisman - he can cut it as a 20-goal-a-season man.
Preston, brought to life so startlingly two seasons ago by both he and Davies, are finding their feet again under the auspices of Paul Simpson and, with the increasingly-convincing Patrick Agyemang also on their books, have a genuine chance of securing a third-successive play-off place. Nugent can reasonably expect to be playing in the Premiership a year from now whether this is achieved or not - and his boyhood team Everton are among those watching intently. Davies knew he never had a chance of prising Nugent away - but in David Moyes there may yet be one former Deepdale boss ready to carry out the most highly-prized piece of furniture removal.
England's 2010 World Cup squad
*Players in bold - tickets to South Africa booked already
Goalkeepers
Paul Robinson
Possibles: Chris Kirkland, Ben Foster, Rob Green, Scott Carson
Defenders
John Terry, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher
Possibles: Glen Johnson, Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards, Ledley King, Michael Dawson, Anton Ferdinand, Leighton Baines, Justin Hoyte, Curtis Davies, Wes Brown, Phil Bardsley, Michael Mancienne
Midfielders
Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Owen Hargreaves, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick
Possibles: Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone, Nigel Reo-Coker, Lee Cattermole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stewart Downing, Giles Barnes, James Morrison, Kieran Richardson
Forwards
Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen
Possibles: David Nugent, Theo Walcott, James Vaughan, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Darren Bent, Dean Ashton, Cameron Jerome