Goalkeeper James ruled out of England qualifiers

LONDON (AP) -England will be without first choice goalkeeper David James for the World Cup qualifiers in June after being forced to undergo shoulder surgery.

The Portsmouth 'keeper will have an operation Wednesday, ruling him out of the matches against Kazakhstan and Andorra.

"It's something I've been playing with for 18 months, but now I've got to look at the bigger picture,'' the 38-year-old James said. "I want to be fit for the start of next season with Portsmouth and I trust England to do well without me.''

England is already without Ben Foster for the games in Almaty on June 6 and at Wembley on June 10 after the Manchester United 'keeper was sidelined with a thumb injury.

England manager Fabio Capello could turn to Paul Robinson for the first time.

Robinson was first choice under Steve McClaren until a 2-1 loss at Russia in October 2007 near the end of the unsuccessful European Championship qualification campaign. He has since moved from Tottenham to Blackburn.

"Paul is back on top of his form,'' Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce said at the weekend. "As an English goalkeeper, he is performing the best in this country at the moment.

"Paul is right up there now and is producing the sort of saves on a regular basis which helped us to get clear of relegation.''