Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson looks on course for aniother lcub versus country row after he threatened to withdraw his England players from of the squad for the friendly against Argentina.

He told the club magazine: “I’ve never had problems with competitive games but I’ll not risk my players in a friendly.

“I do not like friendly internationals. England have one this month and you can bet that Chelsea and Arsenal will be pulling their players out.

“And if I have the injury problems I have at the moment, I will be too.”

Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Kieran Richardson and Alan Smith are all expected to be named in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad for the match on Saturday 12 November.