Robert Green's heart today went out to his injured World Cup rival Chris Kirkland as the City keeper's grip on a ticket to Germany this summer tightened even further.

Robert Green's heart today went out to his injured World Cup rival Chris Kirkland as the City keeper's grip on a ticket to Germany this summer tightened even further.

With Paul Robinson and David James long earmarked for the two top slots, 26-year-old Green and the luckless Kirkland have been locked in a straight fight for that third and final 'keeper slot all season long.

The news that Kirkland has fractured the tip of a finger and is now out for the rest of the season might leave Green in the box seat to become the first Canary player since Bryan Gunn and Robert Fleck travelled to Italia '90 with Scotland to compete in the World Cup finals, but the City favourite was taking nothing for granted. His first thought, however, was for Kirkland who was reportedly left distraught by this latest injury heartbreak.

“Chris is a really great lad and he'll be bitterly disappointed,” said Green, who still has just that one competitive England appearance to his name - 45 minutes against Colombia on last summer's tour to America.

It is 45 minutes more than the 24-year-old Kirkland, whose season-long loan to West Bromwich Albion from Liverpool has proved an injury nightmare after being limited to just 12 appearances this season. His hopes of an extended run of Premiership football were first hit by a nasty kidney injury in the clash with Bolton Wanderers. Last week's freak training ground accident ended Kirkland's hopes of unseating Green from Sven-Goran Eriksson's thinking. Other English alternatives are desperately thin on the ground with ex-Ipswich Town star Richard Wright probably left as Green's nearest challenger - or else future prospect Scott Carson, who is currently learning his trade in Liverpool Reserves.

“Chris has been really unfortunate with injury,” said a sympathetic Green. “He came and did very well at West Brom and then got injured and when he gets back, the Polish lad Tomasz Kuszczak is in there and pulling up trees. And now he's injured again.

“But that's part of football. And, yes, possibly his injury does make my case a little bit stronger, but I'm not taking anything for granted - absolutely not.

“There's six games left this season. Six more games for me to prove that I deserve to be in that squad.”