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SWEEPING CHANGE

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RIO Ferdinand is set to get an earlier-than-expected opportunity to cement his England future.

The cultured West Ham defender is being pencilled in for a centre-back slot in the first of England's European Championship qualifying matches against Sweden in Stockholm next Saturday.

Ferdinand will be given his golden opportunity due to the uncertainty over Tony Adams, who is currently injured and has said this will possibly be his last season as a player.

England coach Glenn Hoddle, an ardent admirer of the sweeper system, sees Ferdinand as an ideal candidate to take that role and help his team build from the back.

Adams may also be taking a back seat for another reason.

Hoddle hopes the furore over his World Cup diary will have run its course by the time England take the field in Sweden but friction is sure to resurface with the serialisation, again in The Sun, of Adams' autobiography, in which he criticises the coach's man- management, training methods and tactics.

This apart, the England coach has been concerned by recent reports quoting his best defender as contemplating retirement at the end of the season due to trouble from a long-standing ankle injury.

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