Gareth Southgate fears Fabio Capello's travel demands may have exhausted David Wheater.
Middlesbrough's manager is worried that his young centre half or right back will be tired out when Chelsea visit The Riverside tomorrow lunchtime after playing for the England Under-21s on Tuesday night and then linking up with Capello's squad in Belarus on Wednesday morning.
Immediately after the junior side's 2-2 draw with Wales at Villa Park, Wheater was scheduled to fly to Minsk to both serve as a cover player and experience a taste of life with the seniors.
Unfortunately the flight, scheduled for late on Tuesday night, was cancelled and he eventually boarded a plane to Eastern Europe at 7am the next morning. After watching England's win from the stands, Wheater flew back with the rest of the squad late on Wednesday before being driven home to Teesside from Luton airport early yesterday morning.
Although the defender travelled in considerable style and was extremely well taken care of, Southgate remains underwhelmed by Capello's apparent whim.
"David went in case anyone was ill," said Boro's manager, himself a former England centre half. "The flight immediately after the Under-21 game was cancelled and he flew at 7am the next morning.
"We got an email about if from the FA on Monday. For us it's a bigger issue than it is for them. It's not something we can do anything about though. We have expressed that we are not happy and now we must look to Saturday.
"I don't want to harm David's chances with England so I don't want to make too much of a fuss about it. The principle of him travelling with the team is brilliant. We just feel it should be one squad or the other, either the full squad or the Under 21s. That's where I am coming from.
"I have been advised to say as little as possible but I'm not overly impressed by it. I have spoken to Stuart (Pearce, the England Under-21 coach) and to people who are close to the first team but they have their jobs to do. Stuart has a job to do, Fabio has a job to do and I have a job to do, so the three of us are going to have disagreements about it.
"I think once David had played for the Under-21s our game against Chelsea should have taken precedence, that should have been it with England. I can't understand why you would fly to Belarus on the day of a game and sit in the stand."
Nonetheless a part of Southgate is delighted that one of Boro's academy graduates is at the centre of a club v country row. "When you think that, less than two years ago, David was on loan at Darlington it shows the progress he has made," he enthused. "David and Stewart Downing are shining lights for our academy.
"David is progressing well. He has an enormous amount still to learn and he hasn't made it yet but he has a terrific attitude and works incredibly hard in training. He's promising. It's a long road ahead but he's doing well now."
