Ashley Cole could become the first England player to be omitted from a game because he is so unpopular and anti-social.
No, really, he could be left out not because he is injured or playing badly, but because if he is selected to play in the 2014 World Cup qualifying tie against San Marino most of the capacity crowd will boo him. With Joey Barton on loan at Marseille it is a photo-finish between Cole and his Chelsea captain John Terry who is the least popular footballer in England.
Another reason why Roy Hodgson may rest Cole (players are no longer dropped, only rested) is because it would prevent the potentially embarrassing situation where he has to shake hands pre-match with David Bernstein, chairman of the Football Association, the organization the left-back insulted on Twitter last week and prompted a misconduct charge from them.