Manchester United goalkeeper coach Eric Steele fears an England chance for fellow Geordie Steve Harper may have passed the Newcastle keeper by.

Steele said: "Like Steve, I was a young keeper with Newcastle but because of the form of Willie McFaul, I could not see myself breaking through and I decided to leave.

"Steve opted to be patient even though Shay Given was established as Newcastle's No.1, and when he looks back on his career he will probably accept he should have left.

"There have not been a lot of English keepers in the Premier League in recent seasons and Harper had the potential to play for his country - but has missed out because he was not playing first-team football.

"You can never say never in football, but I would say that as far as England is concerned it is too late for Harps even though he is around four years younger than David James."