JERMAINE JENAS is facing a straight fight with Kieron Dyer for a place in the England team for the crucial 2004 qualifier against Turkey after forcing his way into Sven-Goran Eriksson's plans with his impressive performance against Australia.

Jenas, 20 next Tuesday, and Dyer are battling for the poisoned chalice in the England line-up: the problematic left-sided midfield position.

Eriksson admitted last night that the Newcastle United teammates are at the front of the queue for the No 11 shirt for the qualifiers in Liechtenstein and against Turkey, which will take place at Sunderland on April 2.

While the England coach stopped short of confirming Jenas will be in the squad for the two matches, Northern Echo Sport understands the former Nottingham Forest midfielder will definitely be included in the party that will be announced towards the end of next month.

Eriksson said: "There could be an internal club competition between Jenas and Dyer at Newcastle.

"I started to see Jenas last season when he went to Newcastle and I always liked him because he has a football brain and plays it simple.

"But what surprised me in the Australia game was that he's stronger than he seems to be. He's also mature at the age of 19."

After trying a plethora of players on the left of midfield, including Emile Heskey and Paul Scholes, Eriksson believes that in Jenas he has discovered a potential solution to his greatest selection conundrum.

Wayne Rooney is likely to join Jenas in next month's squad, but while the Everton striker is a possible choice the Newcastle teenager will certainly be given the opportunity to impress Eriksson again.

Jenas said: "I haven't felt out of place at all. I believe in myself, and I knew that I could play at any level of football.

"Anybody would be disappointed to be left out of the squad for the next two games.

"You want to be involved all the time but you'd just have to get on with your club football if you were left out and hope the call came another time.

"I'm only young, so there's definitely a lot of improvement still in me.

"I'm still learning from players at Newcastle, and I'm developing even more from playing with international players at the highest level.

"I learnt a lot from the week. It's a completely different environment to the Under-21s, with a lot more hype.

"The older lads welcomed us. They got to know us really well and made it a lot easier for us.

"There are a lot of experienced players in the side who have been there and done it, and you can learn from them."

Sir Bobby Robson, exactly 50 years older than Jenas, beamed with pride as he dissected his young protg's Upton Park performance.

The Newcastle manager confessed he had not expected Jenas to make the step up to international football so soon, but he gave his seal of approval to the midfielder's display.

Robson said: "Jermaine can look back on a splendid full England debut, even though he only played 45 minutes.

"He showed exactly why we bought him. He's a very fit boy and people who hadn't seen him before Wednesday must have wondered just how he could run about like that.

"He was accomplished on the ball throughout the second half, but what was particularly pleasing for us was the way he won the ball and came through tackles all the time he was on the field.

"Nottingham Forest fed and bred him, and now we're developing him.

"To be honest, we didn't expect Jermaine to become a full international within a year of joining us. But now he can go and improve all the time."