SAM Allardyce believes that Michael Ricketts' England call is "fully-deserved".

The manager said: "He has been playing very well this year. He is quick and has been scoring lots of goals. He deserves his chance.

"This is a reward for the tremendous amount of progress he has made in his time at Bolton Wanderers.

"It's fully deserved on his behalf and it's a great accolade for the club and for the town.

"Michael has taken the Premiership by storm this season and he's scored 15 goals already. He's netted fabulous strikes against the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, proving he can compete against some of the best players in the world.

"I hope he does well at that level and can force his way into Sven's plans for the World Cup Finals."

Eriksson, who has assured Robbie Fowler, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole that they are still in his plans despite being left out of the Holland squad, said: "This is a time when we can bring in some new players and see how they do in international football.

"He (Ricketts) has been playing very well. He is quick and has been scoring lots of goals. He deserves his chance."

Ironically the call came at a time when Ricketts has gone through one of his leanest spells - five games without a goal - and on Saturday he was guilty of a rare miss before Ricardo Gardner scored the goal that earned Wanderers a 1-0 victory over West Ham at the Reebok.

"Everyone in the ground - me and all the fans - were relaxed thinking this is Michael, this is going to be a goal," Allardyce remarked. "Unfortunately for him and unlike him he probably took it too early. He could have let it settle down a little bit more and would have put it away."

Ricketts, the 23-year-old Birmingham-born striker, has had a meteoric rise to the international scene, earning his call after scoring 39 goals in 80 appearances since joining Wanderers from Walsall for a bargain £400,000 in July 2000.

His 12 Premiership goals have made him one of the hottest properties on the market and, although qualified to play for Jamaica and the USA by parentage, he has been touted in recent months - noteably by Allardyce - for an England call.

There was little to suggest that he would feature in the squad for the Amsterdam game, however, until Eriksson named him along with Aston Villa's Darius Vassell, Tottenham's Ledley King and Southampton's Wayne Bridge in a squad that recognises the achievements of young stars.