World Cup 2010: Bobby Zamora to head list of new names in Fabio Capello's squad

Bobby Zamora. Adam Johnson. Jamie Carragher. Wayne Bridge. Ledley King. Owen Hargreaves. The uncapped; the retired; the dodgily kneed. All are welcome in Fabio Capello's broad church.

Engand chance: Fulham's Bobby Zamora scores against Wolfsburg in the Europa League quarter-finals during a successful season that has impresssed Fabio Capello

With two days to go before he names his provisional squad for World Cup 2010 in South Africa, every option is being examined as he tries different combinations in his 30-piece jigsaw.

Sources in the England camp have said that "there will be new players" in the provisional squad and that there could be some inclusions that would have seemed inconceivable a couple of weeks ago.

Capello will announce the 30-man squad at Wembley on Tuesday afternoon and those players will fly out to their training camp in Irdning in Austria on Saturday.

The England manager and his coaching staff will monitor the players closely over their two weeks in Austria, and check their match form in friendlies with Mexico on May 25 and Japan on May 30. The final 23-man squad must be named by midnight on June 1.

Zamora, his Achilles injury permitting, will be included. The Football Association sent him a letter last week requesting that he is available and Capello has been seriously impressed by the way he has performed in Fulham's run to the Europa League.

He has yet to be capped but is more mobile than Peter Crouch, and in better form than Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole. That he has played as a lone forward all season must count heavily in his favour.

What Capello will be trying to ascertain is whether he can play on the same wavelength as the likes of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, with whom Heskey has always combined well.

Hargreaves and Johnson could well be the beneficiaries of Gareth Barry's ankle injury. The loss of the Manchester City midfielder has hit the England management hard as they are short of cover in the holding position.

Michael Carrick has not been playing for United and has struggled to cope with big games while Tom Huddlestone is talented but inexperienced. Both will be in the provisional squad but Capello is keen to look at other options for the position alongside Frank Lampard in central midfield.

The most convincing is James Milner, who has played in central midfield for Aston Villa all season – Capello thinks he is the most improved England player of the season. That would free up a slot out wide: that will come down to a straight fight between Adam Johnson and Joe Cole, with the former probably edging it.

Capello used to value Cole very highly and is conscious that he was one of the few England players to perform well in Germany four years ago.

Yet he has struggled to get into the Chelsea team for a sustained run and his form has suffered. Capello is at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea's game with Wigan this afternoon. Cole has one last chance to convince the Italian he should be in the provisional squad. On recent evidence it will be a task beyond him.

The riskier choice is to select Hargreaves. He is the best English holding midfielder around but has only played a few minutes of football in the last 18 months, after coming on against Sunderland last Sunday. With a month to go, Capello might just take him in the 30 and have a close look at how quickly he can get match fit. Scott Parker is the only other realistic option.

It is with his defenders that Capello has the most difficult balancing act to strike. Rio Ferdinand's back problems, and the related injuries he has suffered this season, have been described as a "real challenge" by the England camp and while there was an optimistic prognosis from Manchester United's medical team, his fitness throughout the tournament cannot be relied upon.

King will be included in the squad. It seems bizarre to take a man who cannot train to a training camp but the Tottenham captain is in formidable form and Capello will be content to give him game time in England's friendlies with Mexico and Japan. In between he will stick to his Spurs programme of anaerobic work on the bike and in the pool. His Spurs defensive partner, Michael Dawson, is also a strong candidate.

With King only able to play once every six days and Glen Johnson having a calf problem, flexible cover is needed. That means a player who can play at full-back and centre-back – hence the efforts to get Carragher out of retirement.

A real European football enthusiast, Carragher likes the idea of working under Capello but is concerned about the public reaction. Two years ago, in his autobiography, he wrote that it hurt him less losing with England than with Liverpool. If he cannot be persuaded, then Phil Jagielka, Wes Brown or even fit-again Joleon Lescott could come in.

The England management team have pretty much conceded in their fight to get Bridge to end his self-imposed exile. The City left-back does not want to be in the same dressing room as John Terry after the scandal involving Vanessa Perroncel and, despite being asked to change his mind last Monday, he is sticking to his position.

With a full round of Premier League fixtures this afternoon, and several issues of fitness still to be decided, Capello is prepared to think on his feet.

The Fifa rules allow, in the case of serious injury, a replacement from outside the 30-man provisional squad as late as 24 hours before the first game with the United States in Rustenburg on June 12.

That means he will only take three goalkeepers to Irdning – Rob Green, David James and Joe Hart – with Paul Robinson on standby should anything befall them.

For many others, the hopes of going to South Africa will be killed off on Tuesday. Nothing is settled, but the likes of Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Darren Bent, Stephen Warnock, Lescott and, yes, Joe Cole must sense disappointment on the horizon.

England's likely provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup

Robert Green (West Ham)
Caps 9 Goals 0
David James (Portsmouth)
Caps 49 Goals 0
Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Caps 1 Goals 0
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
Caps 76, Goals 3
John Terry (Chelsea)
Caps 59, Goals 6
Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Caps 19, Goals 1
Ledley King (Tottenham)
Caps 19 Goals 1
Michael Dawson (Tottenham)
Caps 0
Wes Brown (Manchester United)
Caps 23, Goals 1
Phil Jagielka (Everton)
Caps 3 Goals 0
Glen Johnson (Liverpool)
Caps 20 Goals 0
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Caps 77 Goals 0
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
Caps 34 Goals 0
Leighton Baines (Everton)
Caps 1 Goals 0
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Caps 78 Goals 16
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Caps 77 Goals 20
James Milner (Aston Villa)
Caps 7 Goals 0
Michael Carrick (Manchester United)
Caps 21 Goals 0
Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham)
Caps 1 Goals 0
Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Caps 9 Goals 3
Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)
Caps 15 Goals 0
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)
Caps 30 Goals 6
Stewart Downing (Aston Villa)
Caps 23 Goals 0
Adam Johnson (Manchester City)
Caps 0 Goals 0
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Caps 58 Goals 25
Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)
Caps 39 Goals 11
Peter Crouch (Tottenham)
Caps 37 Goals 20
Emile Heskey (Aston Villa)
Caps 57 Goals 7
Carlton Cole (West Ham)
Caps 7 Goals 0
Bobby Zamora (Fulham)
Caps 0 Goals 0
Key dates

May 11: Provisional 30-man squad announced
May 25: England v Mexico (Wembley)
May 30: England v Japan (Graz)
June 1: Final 23-man squad announced.