Charlton striker Darren Bent has been called up to the England squad to face Denmark on Wednesday in Copenhagen. Bent replaces Crystal Palace's Andy Johnson, who has injured a hamstring.

"Andy is injured, we got a late phone call that he has a hamstring injury, so Darren Bent is in," said Sven-Goran Eriksson

Eriksson added that Manchester United's Alan Smith asked not to be included so he could play for the club's reserves, citing a lack of match practice.

"Alan has had such little football he said he would rather get 90 minutes under his belt on Tuesday for United's reserves."

Bent has been promoted from the Under-21 side and will make his England debut should he feature in Copenhagen.

The 21-year-old, who joined Charlton from Ipswich over the summer, said he was "gobsmacked" by his call-up.

"Saturday was an amazing day," he told the FA website.

"Making my Premiership debut for a new club, scoring my first brace in the Premiership and then to get the England call-up on the back of that was just a dream come true.

"At first I thought it was a wind-up, that someone was just having a laugh, so I didn't pay too much notice to it.

"I was so stunned. I was completely gobsmacked. I told my parents what had happened and they couldn't quite believe it."

Birmingham's Matthew Upson has also been called up, with Sol Campbell, Ledley King and Wayne Bridge all injured, while Norwich goalkeeper Robert Green is included.

Injury means that Liverpool's Peter Crouch and Newcastle's Kieron Dyer are both absent but Jermain Defoe, who scored in Tottenham's opening Premiership match against Portsmouth, is in the squad.

Kieran Richardson, who was impressive in England's end-of-season tour of the United States, was selected in the under-21 squad, along with Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing.

That means Michael Carrick, who also performed well in the US, retains his spot among the midfielders.

Eriksson told the FA's website: "We have a very big couple of months ahead of us and we have an important job to do to qualify for the World Cup finals.

"This match against Denmark is the perfect preparation and I'm very much looking forward to the start of what I hope is going to be a very significant season for the England team."

England are second in Group Six, two points behind Poland, who have played one game more.

After facing Wales in Cardiff on 3 September, England's campaign continues in Belfast four days later before the final games against Austria and the Poles in October at Old Trafford.

England squad:
Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), James (Man City), Green (Norwich)

Defenders: G Neville (Man Utd), G Johnson (Chelsea), A Cole (Arsenal), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Carragher (Liverpool), Upson (Birmingham)

Midfielders: P Neville (Everton), Beckham (Real Madrid), Gerrard (Liverpool), Lampard (Chelsea), J Cole (Chelsea), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Jenas (Newcastle), Carrick (Tottenham)

Strikers: Owen (Real Madrid), Rooney (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham), D Bent (Charlton)