Nicolas Anelka has once again been snubbed by Jacques Santini as the French manager has no place in his squad for the Manchester City striker. Despite enjoying an excellent start to the Premiership season at Maine Road, Anelka has clearly not done enough to impress Santini. The former Arsenal hero has not featured in any of Santini's squads so far but he could yet receive a last minute call-up if Thierry Henry fails to recover from his hamstring injury.
However, Santini has sent out a message to the City striker, telling him not to give up hope. "We went to see him at Manchester City but we wanted to trust the squad which played against Tunisia," said Santini. "We know that Anelka is ready and very motivated to play with us. We have a lot of players on standby in each position on the pitch and Nicolas is one of them."
Meanwhile, Santini has included Leeds United midfielder Olivier Dacourt and Chelsea defender William Gallas in his squad for the upcoming Euro 2004 qualifiers against Slovenia and Malta. Centre-back Gallas has never been capped by France while Dacourt has not featured in Santini's previous two squads and has just three international caps for his country.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
