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Time to back Baines

Matt Le Tissier feels Leighton Baines must now be considered as England's first-choice left-back ahead of Ashley Cole

Image: Matt Le Tissier believes Everton star Baines has done enough to establish himself ahead of Ashley Cole for England

Everton's Leighton Baines must be England's first-choice left-back for the 2014 World Cup, says Matt Le Tissier.

Bold
Goalkeeper Joe Hart was the only England player to complete every minute of the 10 qualifiers while only two other players were on the pitch for over 600 minutes - Steven Gerrard (670) and Phil Jagielka (630). Baines played for 568 minutes at left back, significantly more than Cole (315), but the surprise package of the campaign was Tottenham's Andros Townsend, who scored on his debut against Montenegro and struck the woodwork against Poland. Le Tissier told Soccer Special that the winger's pace not only makes him a constant attacking threat but also a valuable outlet when England are under pressure. "You cannot point the finger at Roy at all because he's been bold in his team selection," reflected Le Tissier. "There has been talk in the past of him not selecting the most attacking side but he's been brave with his selections and they've paid off fantastically well and he needs to be given a lot of credit for that. "Andros Townsend was a good release ball for us. When we were under a little bit of pressure the ball was played out to him and he kept possession and took England forward. "He chose to stand by Joe Hart - he realised this wasn't the time to go changing his goalkeeper - and Hart was called upon a couple of times, making some crucial saves. "There were a few hairy moments in the first half when Robert Lewandowski threatened a little bit and he had a couple of chances that a player of his standard will have felt that he could have done better with. But thankfully he didn't and we were able to get the lead before half-time and take all of the pressure off. "I think Roy has got just about every call right over these last few days for these last two qualifiers and we can start thinking about winning the World Cup now! But seriously, I don't think anybody will be seriously expecting us to go to Brazil and win the World Cup." skysports.com will bring you the 2014 World Cup draw on December 6th and extensive coverage of the finals when Brazil kick off the tournament on June 12.

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