Keown tips James Milner to stay in

Former Villa and England defender Martin Keown has insisted James Milner will be "hard to drop" against Germany following his heroics against Slovenia.

After being replaced just half an hour into the opening game against United States, Milner marked his return to the side for the injured Aaron Lennon by creating Jermain Defoe's decisive goal as England edged out Slovenia 1-0.

The Villa star's performance has drawn widespread praise from players and pundits and Keown believes Lennon, who missed training today with an ankle problem, will struggle to displace him even if he recovers in time.

Keown said: "Plenty of eyebrows were raised about Fabio Capello's decision to include James Milner on the right wing for Aaron Lennon, but he will be hard to drop after that performance.

"He terrorised their left-back Bojan Jokic and was creative too, putting in a series of superb crosses, including the one for Jermain to score the winning goal.

"Capello will also have been pleased to see him pressing the full-back and tracking back.

"Lennon will have his work cut out to regain his place."

Keown has urged national boss Fabio Capello to stick with Matthew Upson alongside John Terry.

He added: "It can't have been easy for him being overlooked until now but he showed great mental strength. I would urge Capello to stick with him for the last-16 game.

"It seems sensible to keep a winning team together."