BLACKBURN Rovers boss Sam Allardyce believes Rio Ferdinand’s withdrawal from the World Cup could be a blessing in disguise – because Ledley King is the form defender in the England squad.

Ferdinand is out of the tournament after suffering a knee injury and it now seems likely that King will come into central defence alongside John Terry.

Allardyce said: “Arguably, Ledley is in better form than Ferdinand and Terry. He’s in the squad because he’s a brilliant footballer.

“Harry Redknapp was saying Spurs wouldn’t get into the Champions League because their run-in was too difficult.

“But Ledley played in all those matches and it was he who got Tottenham through those games even though he’s not fit enough to train. If he was fit, I would expect him to start regularly for England.”