A left-footed central defender who can also play at left-back, Joleon Lescott did his prospects of a first major tournament appearance for England the power of good with a top-class performance in a November 2011 friendly against Spain. Formerly with Everton FC, he has spent the past three seasons at Manchester City FC, with whom he won the 2011/12 Premier League title.

• Birmingham-born, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and made his first-team debut three days before his 18th birthday in August 2000, going on to make 37 league appearances in his first season.

• Won promotion to the Premier League with Wolves via the play-offs in 2003 but missed the whole of the top-flight campaign through injury as the club went straight back down to the second tier.

• Made 212 league appearances for Wolves before a 2006 transfer to Everton; an ever-present in each of his first two seasons with the Toffees, he scored eight league goals in an outstanding second campaign plus one in each of his first two European matches, home and away in the UEFA Cup first round against FC Metalist Kharkiv.

• Made his debut for England as a half-time substitute in a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier against Estonia; his first two competitive starts were in defeats by Russia and Croatia that prevented England from reaching the finals.

• Left Everton for Manchester City in August 2009 and won the FA Cup in 2011, having been a runner-up two years earlier with Everton; made his UEFA Champions League debut on 14 September 2011 against SSC Napoli.