Position: Midfielder
Born: 16.04.87
Club: Tottenham

Aaron Lennon was not the diminutive right-winger most England fans expected to see at the World Cup.

But his enthusiasm and consistent displays for Tottenham saw him overtake Shaun Wright-Phillips in the final stretch, just in time to make the plane. The latter thought a move to Chelsea would accelerate his career - but it ended up standing still.

Lennon became the Premiership's youngest ever player when he took the field as a 78th-minute substitute in Leeds' 2-1 defeat at Tottenham in August 2003. He was just 16 years and 129 days old.

He made 10 further appearances from the bench in the league that season as Leeds were relegated.

As he was still developing, Leeds were keen to hold him back from the rough and tumble of the Championship but eventually Lennon forced his way into the starting line-up - and justified his inclusion with a goal on his full league debut in a 3-2 win at Sunderland on Boxing Day in front of a crowd of over 43,000.

Clearly the speedy wide-boy - still only 17 - was ready for the big time.

And with every match, it became apparent that it was Leeds who could not keep pace with Lennon. The club could only finish 14th in the league and in need of funds, it was time to sell - but they only received £1million from Tottenham for their prize asset.

Lennon hit the ground running at White Hart Lane. He made 21 starts in the Premiership in 2005/6, and was a substitute in six more games. He won his first England Under-21 cap in October 2005, and with his trickery and talent reaching a wider audience, talk began of a late World Cup summons.

It was always going to be a straight choice between him and Wright-Phillips and although the latter had performed well for England in eight appearances, he could barely get a game for Chelsea.

Sven-Goran Eriksson decided to follow the form guide, and now Lennon will be keen to prove the Swede made the right call.