Will this actually prove the making of United star?

Football FanCast columnist Tom Jones feels that Ben Foster should start to believe in himself a little more.

Manchester United Goalkeeper Ben Foster’s call up for England’s game against Belarus tonight shows that Fabio Capello hasn’t completely discarded him from his plans despite a less than impressive season so far.

Foster is currently behind both David James and Robert Green in the England pecking order, as due to his age and limited top-flight experience he doesn’t have the track record or commanding presence of those two. The 26 year old ‘keeper has received a lot of criticism recently and hasn’t kicked on and shown the promise that led him to being identified as a future England number one early in his career.

This season has been tough for the young shot-stopper, as high-profile errors such as those in the Manchester derby against City and more recently against Sunderland have led to a crisis of confidence. It has been evident watching Foster that his confidence is draining away from him as mistakes start to creep into his game, and with van der Sar due to shortly return for United, his first team chances running up to the 2010 World Cup look slim.

Reports in the Mirror that Capello actually wanted Scott Carson to replace Green in the squad for Belarus but was unavailable due to injury are only likely to result in Foster questioning his self-belief even further, but one Red Devils teammate has given Foster his backing. Edwin van der Sar feels that Foster has can conquer his current problems and told the Manchester Evening News that “Ben certainly has the strength of character to overcome what he has been through”.

So despite criticism from fans and the media his teammates still have faith in him, but the most important question is whether Foster believes in himself?

The tournament in South Africa may well come too soon for Foster, but should he be completely written out of England’s plans and who should be picked ahead of him?

If he can regain his confidence with a string of solid first-team appearances I wouldn’t bet against him coming back even stronger in the future.

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