THE difficulties facing Michael Ricketts' dreams of breaking into the England World Cup squad have been highlighted by defender Gary Neville, who collected his 50th cap on Wednesday night writes Chris Sudlow

Ricketts was given just 45 minutes by manager Sven Goran Eriksson, a mere flicker at club level, but almost a lifetime in international terms.

Neville explained: "If you are an England player, you have to make an impression straightaway.

"It's a footballing form of Russian roulette. Some players come in and do well early on. But with others you can seen their confidence has drained straightaway."

He was speaking initially of Darius Vassell's headline-grabbing debut, but could just as easily have been talking of Ricketts, or Kevin Phillips, who had another chance to shine, but failed to score again.

Added Neville: "When you come in you either grow up, or ir can eat you up. If a striker doesn't score in his first few games you can see the pressure build on their shoulders."

Ricketts can take heart from a number of kind words from studio pundits after the 1-1 draw in Amsterdam.

The BBC's respected Alan Hansen said: "This boy could be a bit extra special, but not yet."

And goalscoring legend Alan Shearer added: "I'm sure he'll be disappointed, but he has to think where he was just a year ago. He certainly didn't let himself down."

Gary Lineker, another to whom scoring at national level came easily, added: "It just didn't happen for him."

And Ray Wilkins added: "You've got the eyes of the country on you. It's very tough."

Ricketts himself was reasonably satisfied after admitting to feeling very nervous.

He said: "I want to go back to my club and keep scoring and keep them up."

Wanderers fans will heartily endorse that statement!