Cuellar backs Villa six for England World Cup squad

Aston Villa's Spanish defender Carlos Cuellar can see six of his teammates going to the World Cup in England.

Cuellar is a massive fan of Gabby Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey, Ashley Young, James Milner, Stephen Warnock and Stewart Downing and sees no reason why they shouldn't be gracing the 2010 tournament for the Three Lions.

He told Villa's website: "They all have a great chance in my opinion. They are playing very well and have plenty of confidence in themselves.

"I have to mark Emile and Gabby quite a lot in training - let me tell you, it's not easy. It's tough.

"They are both very strong, very quick and very clever. It's difficult but it's great for me because I am training against some of the best players in England - it's brilliant and my game improves as a result.

"Gabby has really bulked up - he's not big height-wise but he's a strong lad now. He is really difficult to knock off the ball or to win the ball off. He is massive.

"He is strong, he is very quick and this work he has done over the summer has definitely helped him.

"He is hard to play against. I think he's a better player now than he was last season, without question. He has masses of confidence after his start to the season and he is gaining in experience.

"He tries all the time too, he works so, so hard. I also think he is a very clever footballer - he is learning quickly.

"James is a great guy to have in front of you when you're playing right-back. He is not always concentrating on going forward. He wants to help his right-back as much as possible. He's running forward, he's running back, he's running forward, he's running back. It's so impressive and it's great news for the defender behind him. He's the ideal man to have in front of you. He's got a great chance of getting into that squad. He can play left, right and in the middle and that versatility is vital.

"Ashley is just brilliant and can change a game in a moment while Emile is just a really, really class striker - and we have Stewart Downing coming back too. He will feel he has a good chance as well.

"Stephen Warnock was in the squad for the last game too, so he will be very hopeful he made a good impression when he trained with the rest of the squad. All of them have a terrific opportunity."