England Hopefuls: Norwich City

First of all I'm a Norwich fan, so as much as I try to keep an unbiased view, a little bit if sure to creep in. However the positive is that I see every Norwich game, home and away, so for people who don't get to do that, we can get a clearer picture.

Like with many of the smaller teams in the Premier League, a large proportion of the Norwich squad is made up of English players. However some of them, as good as they are for us, will likely never play for the National team, which is why I'm leaving them out.

Lets dive straight in with the player who will likely be the lone representative from Norwich.

John Ruddy - Goalkeeper, 27

For me, Ruddy is the clear back-up to Joe Hart. He has started all 31 games in the Premier League for Norwich and he has pulled of fantastic saves to keep us in games and pick us up some points. He made a good save from Brown on Saturday, one against Spurs springs to mind. He came out quickly to thwart Adebayor and his aerial command has been good all season. He's a fantastic shot-stopper and a great communicator. I think Roy would be an idiot to leave John at home. He doesn't have much International experience but he has played a lot of Premier League football against some of the top players in the World. If anything were to happen to Hart, I'd be comfortable turning to Ruddy. Personally I think he should go and I think he will go.

Nathan Redmond, Winger, 20

Redmond is a fantastic talent, he is quick and tricky and no player wants to face up to him, look what he did to Kompany when Manchester City were held to a 0-0 draw earlier this season. However he is every bit the 20 year old in terms of not being anywhere close to being a polished footballer. I've seen an improvement throughout the season with his ball delivery, but it is still highly inconsistent. Sometimes he just needs to get the ball in early, if he can perfect his crossing, he'll be a very dangerous player. His shooting is another area he needs to improve on. Earlier in the season he cut inside and unleashed a shot that gave Norwich a 1-0 win against Southampton. After that his shots were more likely to find the top row than the top corner. Although he did force a good save yesterday when he came on and if he can concentrate on hitting the target, the improvements and goals will come. He's created 31 chances this year, but he just needs to polish his game.

He'll be watching the World Cup from home.

Bradley Johnson, Midfielder, 26

Johnson has arguably been our best player this season, however when he was dropped yesterday we perhaps played some of our best football. Johnson is a little old fashioned pit bull in the middle of the park. In some games you need that and in others you really don't. He's scored 3 goals this season and created 20 chances, but I don't think he'll ever play for England. In terms of technical ability he is lacking but he's still a good player. He'll win the ball back, he'll push on and help in attack and he's not afraid to have a shot from distance. Unfortunately at times those shots are leaving the stadium and you can count on at least one misplaced pass a game, and I mean really misplaced where you stop and wonder what he saw. He has a 23% show accuracy and a 75% pass accuracy, which isn't nearly good enough for an International call. At 26 years old I think we see the finished product and while I love having him here, I can't see him pulling on the England shirt.

Jonny Howson, Midfielder, 25

Howson I think is in the same boat as Johnson, where we are seeing the best of him, but that won't be good enough for England. Howson is a more technically gifted player with a much better eye for a pass and we saw at the end of last season that he knows where the goal is. As a former captain at Leeds he is a good communicator and when he's not in the team, we always seem to miss him. He's scored twice and created 15 chances, with a 53% shot accuracy and a 84% pass accuracy. He missed 11 games over Christmas and New Year and it was felt in midfield. Howson was probably our best player on Saturday and his energy and ball movement are excellent. Saying that, he'll be watching the World Cup at home.

Josh Murphy, Forward, 19

Murphy is a very promising player who has represented England at the u18 and u19 level. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to break through at Norwich this year, despite a couple of enthusiastic performances. I think next year we should look to loan him out to a Championship or League 1 club. Let him get some first team professional football under his belt so he can continue to improve and develop the talent that he obviously has. He's made 10 appearances this season and scored the one goal that came in the league cup. He's going to be interesting to watch but he needs to leave on loan to get that football under his belt. Hopefully he can do that in 2014-2015 and come back and challenge in 2015-2016. Where he will still be very very young.

Gary Hooper, Forward, 25

Hooper started his Norwich career with a bang and it seemed as though anything he hit was finding its way into the top corner. However unfortunately he has seriously gone off the boil and hasn't been able to come close to finding the net for some time. Hooper scored 63 goals in 95 appearances for Celtic, but has managed just 5 goals in 26 since coming to Norwich. Some of it comes down to the way we play which at times can be very defensive, isolating the striker for long stretches. Some of it is the fact he is playing against some of the Worlds best defenders week in and week out and no disrespect to the SPL, but the challenge is a little tougher down here. He certainly won't be making the plane to Brazil, but I want to see him next season to get a better understanding regarding his potential going forward.

Other players to watch:

Ryan Bennett - A 24 year old central defender who is good in the air. Personally I don't think he's likely to get an England call-up any-time soon.

Jacob Murphy - 19 - Jacob has done what Josh hasn't yet and flown the nest to get some regular football. Jacob is currently on loan at Swindon where he hasn't managed to find the net, but he is a promising player.

Declan Rudd - 23 - A really promising keeper who has represented England from the U16 level to the U21 level. He's currently out on loan at Preston North End, where he has made 33 appearances since returning.