David Bentley blames Tottenham boss Juande Ramos for his England axe, it has been revealed. The Times says Bentley believes he has lost his place in the England squad because he is being played out of position for his club. The right winger shook his head when Ramos asked him to play at right back when he came on as a substitute during the 1-0 defeat by Hull City on Sunday and has been employed in several positions by the Spaniard this season.

In mitigation, Ramos's decision to play Bentley out of position was down to Tottenham's failings in the transfer market. Bentley started the season at left wing, where the club have no obvious candidate to play, and he was then played as a second striker behind Darren Bent, before Roman Pavlyuchenko was signed from Spartak Moscow in August. Bentley complained to Ramos, who started the winger in his preferred position in the next match against Wisla Krakow in the Uefa Cup two weeks ago.