A quick look at how our England hopefuls for the World Cup in Brazil performed in the Premier game at Crystal Palace yesterday.

The Saints player who has all the headlines in the national media this week has been Luke Shaw and on a day of few Premier games he was sure to be in the scrutinised by the football hacks, those that were at Selhurst Park would have seen an accomplished display as Luke showed that he has not been phased by the events of the past week, he will have done his chances of going to Brazil no harm whatsoever, his rival for a seat on the plane Ashely Cole did not feature for Chelsea and wasn't on the bench due to an injury picked up in training.

Adam Lallana was again showing his class, there is a swagger about his play of late and that has to be down to his selection for England, some players are overawed when picked for England, some find it spurs them on, Lallana is in the latter and he seems determined to make the most of his chance for World Cup glory, this was not a game for the purists, but Adam was perhaps the one man who wanted to get the ball down and play, another step toward Brazil for Adam.

Jay Rodriguez is perhaps the least talked about of the Saints England quartet, but at Selhurst Park he did what he has done all season, just quietly got on with doing his job and showing why he is the leading scorer at the club, the winning goal came from his sheer persistence, speed and bravery to go in where it hurts and win the ball, not to mention the cooless not to panic and from a sitting position steer it home from distance, some feel that he will be the least likely to go to Brazil, im not so sure, J Rod has a lot of strings to his bow, his goals have seen a variety, be it shots from distance, headers or quality strikes, don't underestimate just what Rodriguez can offer England and as Rickie Lambert cant seem to find his form,Jay Rodmay well overtake him in the pecking order as he could play either as a target man or more wide as he does at the moment.

Last of the quartet is Rickie Lambert, truly want Rickie to go to Brazil, he is a Saints legend, however I tink his chances go down with every game he plays, once again too often he was marginalised, I have said before that his style doesnt suit our high tempo game and he seems to realise this, we did use him in a more rigid central role in this game, but he doesnt seem to have a bounce in his step or the confidence he used to have, its almost as if he seems to know he cant flourish in our system, he hit the post shortly before the break and as ever when he got the ball used it well, but too often he didnt have the ball and in todays modern game you cant carry passengers, you have to ask the question whether he could have scored the goal Rodriguez did on Saturday and the stark answer has to be no ! He hasnt got the pace to harass defenders as Rodriguez did, nor to make up the ground to be in a position to win the ball from the keeper.

Yes he does offer an outlet from set pieces and he can still hit a free kick, but from an England point of view he wont get to take free kicks so I think Rickie has to do something fast or he can say goodbye to his World up hopes, but sadly with our system not suiting him I dont think its entirely in his hands.

Photo: Action Images

Toussaint added 07:58 - Mar 10 The wretch on MoTd reckons the keeper dropped his guts going in on J-Rod,but for me he was smart ,cause if he fouls him,he`s gone lol ...really enjoyed that goal...if they bring AL and leave J-Rod home it will be a disgrace As for SRL he must be a mixed bag emotions.....will i go to Brazil...will i leave my beloved Saints in summer....the teams new style does not help me...West Ham... He did not use the ball well unusually he kept giving the ball away {as ever when he got the ball used it well} Sir Rick needs a Norwegian Spa The last home game of the season will be telling,but as Grand -Pa use to say ...``The hero never dies until the last reel``

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