KELVIN Davis has slammed talk of an English goalkeeping crisis and claimed an emerging crop of homegrown talent will soon be giving Sven-Goran Eriksson a welcome selection dilemma.

With David James having been cast into the international wilderness following his disastrous display in Denmark, cover for Paul Robinson is thin on the ground.

Thirteen of the 20 Premiership clubs currently field non-English goalkeepers, a situation that has forced Eriksson to trawl the Football League in order to supplement his squad for this evening's game in Northern Ireland.

Norwich's Robert Green forced his way into the England reckoning last season but, while alternatives remain limited, Davis has insisted there are able deputies to be found.

"There might not be many English keepers at the leading sides in the Premiership," said the Sunderland shot-stopper. "But there are a few of us starting to bubble away beneath them.

"English goalkeepers are starting to produce the goods and I don't think it'll be too long until that is recognised.

"English goalkeepers will always come through if they're good enough. We've got a great young goalkeeper here in Ben Alnwick and I'm sure he'll get his chance if the manager thinks he's ready.

"Managers are looking for the best goalkeeper they can find. If they feel they need to traipse off to Timbuktu to find that quality, that's what they'll do.

"There aren't many English keepers in the Premiership at the moment, but I think that's just a quirk more than anything else."

While Green and Chris Kirkland are currently covering for Robinson, Davis is one of the few players to be putting their places under pressure as England's World Cup campaign gathers pace.

The 28-year-old was first linked with an international call-up in the second half of last season as a series of impressive displays helped his former club, Ipswich, into the play-offs.

But, after his form suffered a temporary blip following a discussion of his England ambitions, the Black Cats number one has slapped a self-imposed ban on further international talk.

"I hate to talk about playing for England now," he said. "The last time I mentioned it, I promptly threw two goals in against QPR.

"Let's just say I'm English and every Englishman would love to play for his country. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and see."

More immediately, Davis will be charged with one of the most difficult tasks in the game when Sunderland travel to champions Chelsea on Saturday.

Keeping out the likes of Didier Drogba, Hernan Crespo and Frank Lampard would be a tricky enough task at the best of times but, with the Black Cats still to get a point on the board, this weekend's trip to Stamford Bridge seems certain to keep the goalkeeper on his toes.

"You don't want to be going too far into the season without anything on the board," admitted Davis. "But I think the lads are getting a little bit wiser all the time.

"We conceded three goals in the first game of the season but, since that, I think we've been a lot tighter.

"Everybody's talking about what might happen at Chelsea, but you just never know. We went to Liverpool and I can't remember having a save to make.

"You don't know what's going to happen. We'll be going in with a positive attitude because that's how we've approached every game this season."

l Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is confident Australia will make it third time lucky by qualifying for the World Cup finals later this year.

The Socceroos completed a 9-1 aggregate win over the Solomon Islands last weekend to progress to a two-legged play-off against the fifth-placed team from South America.

Uruguay currently fill that slot and, after losing their last two play-off games, Schwarzer is hoping Australia prevent an unwanted hat-trick in November.

"We haven't qualified for the World Cup finals since 1974," said the 32-year-old stopper. "And I know that, for me personally, this could be my last chance.

"We came very close in 1998 and 2002 and there is a real belief in the squad that this could be our year.

"The squad itself is one of the strongest in recent years and competition for places has probably never been as tough."

* Claudio Reyna considers it a refreshing change to find Manchester City among the Barclays Premiership pacesetters as the first derby of the season approaches.

City, in second place after four games, go to Old Trafford on Saturday to face a Manchester United side who have won their opening three league matches.

American midfielder Reyna was back in Manchester yesterday, having been granted leave from the United States squad who made sure of qualification for the World Cup over the weekend.

His national team coach, Bruce Arena, agreed to return Reyna providing the USA beat Mexico in Columbus, which they duly did by a 2-0 scoreline