Watford's on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper, Ben Foster has been called up for standby duty for England's World Cup squad after an injury to third choice, Robert Green ruled him out of the reckoning for Germany.
The Norwich City stopper suffered a ruptured groin within five minutes of replacing former Golden Boys goalie, David James during last night's friendly B International against Belarus at Reading's Madejski Stadium, paving the way for Liverpool's Scott Carson to be elevated into the main squad instead.
Foster meanwhile, has been holidaying in Dubai after helping Watford complete a fairytale return to the Premiership, but is now expected to immediately return to England and link up with Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad.
Commenting on the news, Watford's goalkeeping coach, Alec Chamberlain says he was surprised by the call, but believes Foster has all attributes needed to reach the very top.
"It was a surprise to hear the news,
But he (Foster) has had a fantastic season and played such a major role for us, so in a way perhaps it is not a major shock.
The whole season has been a fairy tale for him: joining Manchester United from Stoke last summer, helping Watford to promotion and then being called up by England.
It is a week's training with world-class players. I'm sure it will be a bit surreal for him at first, but Ben is a level-headed lad.
Being with England will help him if he is playing for Watford or Manchester United in the Premiership next season.
Getting to know the England players will settle him down, and I'm sure he will rise to the challenge of training with those players.
I expect him to cope with it. He has a long way to go, but he has all the attributes needed to be a top-class goalkeeper."
Watford remain hopeful of retaining the services of the 23-year-old for next season, and it is believed his immediate future was to have been resolved with Sir Alex Ferguson as soon as he had returned from holiday.