David Beckham has been left out of the England squad for the friendly against Switzerland, but Gabriel Agbonlahor and Curtis Davies are in.

The LA Galaxy star finds himself stranded on 99 caps after concerns over his fitness prompted Fabio Capello to omit him from the 30-man training squad, his first as England manager.

Capello said: "I know there has been a lot of discussion about David Beckham. The reason that David is not in the squad is because he has not had any real match practice since playing in November.

"When I spoke with David on the phone yesterday I advised him that he is still part of my plans and once he is playing regularly in America we will look closely at him again."

The Italian added: "I have also worked very closely with Stuart Pearce on squad selection and there are some players like Joe Hart, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott and David Wheater who are with the U21s this time because they have a very important qualification game against Ireland on Tuesday.

"In the future these are players that could feature in the senior squad. I believe it is very important for everyone that the U21 team does well and I want to help them achieve success with Stuart."

Beckham has not played since coming on as a substitute in England's decisive 3-2 Euro 2008 defeat at home to Croatia.

He has trained with Arsenal during Major League Soccer's lengthy winter break, but recently made journeys to Sierra Leone and Brazil to promote UNICEF and his new academy respectively.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid man had been expected to bring up his century by captaining Capello's team at Wembley, but the skipper's armband should now go to Steven Gerrard, with John Terry and Frank Lampard out injured.

Beckham could be forgiven a feeling of déjà vu. Steve McClaren axed Sven-Goran Eriksson's captain from his first squad in 2006, before restoring him for the latter stages of the ill-fated Euro 2008 campaign.

Capello also dropped Beckham from the Real squad after he signed his pre-contract with LA Galaxy, saying he would not play for the club again.

However, he too reversed his original decision, suggesting Beckham's quest to bring up his century is not over yet.

The hotly-tipped Dave Kitson of Reading is not included, while the uncapped Agbonlahor and Davies make up a five-man Aston Villa contingent along with Scott Carson, Gareth Barry and Ashley Young.

ENGLAND SQUAD - Goalkeepers: Scott Carson (Aston Villa), David James (Portsmouth), Chris Kirkland (Wigan)

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Man Utd), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Curtis Davies (Aston Villa), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Ledley King (Tottenham), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Micah Richards (Man City), Nicky Shorey (Reading), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Owen Hargreaves (Man Utd), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Emile Heskey (Wigan), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)

Alex Chick / Eurosport