[goldenHuddlestone]

DAVID BENTLEY’S England future rests on a make- or-break phone call today with manager Steve McClaren.

Bentley’s decision to withdraw from Stuart Pearce’s England squad for the European Under-21 Championships in the summer — claiming he was too tired — infuriated not only Pearce but McClaren too.

The Blackburn winger will be challenged to prove his commitment to England or be banished to the international wilderness.

McClaren names his squad tomorrow for next week’s Wembley friendly against Germany.

He admitted: “There has been a big debate about it and I kept out of the debate.

“It was an Under-21 issue, which I talked to David about beforehand.

“It was a private conversation, it’s in the past and he made his decision. We move on from it, and how we move on from it we will see in the future.”

Asked if Bentley was forgiven, McClaren said: “You will find out.

“I will have a conversation with him in the next couple of days. That will be private and, after I have had that conversation, I’ll be answering questions like that.

“Until I speak to the player I can’t say anything.

“We look at every individual player and whether he has the character to come and play for England and wear the shirt.

“Everybody is assessed like that.”

A source close to Bentley, 23, last night insisted he was fully committed to England and that he made his decision for sound reasons.

Bentley was selected for the senior squad for the June matches against Brazil and Estonia and told he had to go with the Under-21s as well, meaning he would have had virtually no summer break.

The source said: “Steve McClaren knows how much David wants to play for England.”

One player definitely NOT returning to the squad is Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, 29, who has retired from international football despite a face-to-face plea from McClaren on Monday to reconsider.

McClaren said: “We had phone calls in the summer and he expressed a desire to stop playing for England. I told him I did not want that to happen and that he was a vital member of our squad.

“He has been a great servant over many years for England. He plays at right-back, left-back, holding midfielder, centre-half — he’ll play wherever you want him to play.

“He’s a leader and someone I did not want to lose from the squad. I made that quite apparent.

“Unfortunately for Jamie, he’s in a position at centre-half where the competition is there.

“We have Rio Ferdinand, Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate, Michael Dawson and Steven Taylor coming through. And Micah Richards has really impressed playing there.

“What was said between Jamie and me was private and I want it to stay that way. But the door is never closed as far as I’m concerned.”