England boss Sven Goran Eriksson has confirmed he will not pick any Saints or Arsenal players for the friendly in South Africa later this month due to their involvement in the FA Cup final.

The international match in Durban takes place on May 22 - just five days after the showpiece final in Cardiff.

Eriksson, pictured, has therefore ruled out selecting star names such as James Beattie or David Seaman for the game and will also face a left-back dilemma with his first choices - Wayne Bridge and Ashley Cole - also out of contention due to his decision.

The FA confirmed: "With the game less than a week after the FA Cup final, Southampton and Arsenal players will not be selected, which could possibly make way for some new faces."

The England squad fly out to Durban on the Monday after the cup final, with Eriksson believing the Arsenal and Saints players need a further rest before the next friendly against Serbia and Monten-egro or the Euro 2004 qualifier against Slovakia.

In the left-back role, he may again turn to Charlton's Paul Konchesky, who made his senior debut in the friendly against Australia at Upton Park in February.

This will also be a test of his belief in the ability of Aston Villa's Gareth Barry to step up to senior level, having previously overlooked the left- sided player, possibly as he has been playing in midfield for his club this season.

The versatile Owen Hargreaves could always step into the breach and Phil Neville and Jamie Carragher are outsiders.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, has now accepted that Patrick Vieira will join Sol Campbell on the sidelines for the Millennium Stadium showdown.

"Ray Parlour will certainly play in the centre of midfield at Cardiff and I'm sure Patrick will not play," he said.

"I need to get some players back on Sunday against Sunderland) if they want to have a chance of playing in the Cup final - I think about Lauren, Freddie Ljungberg and I still think Pascal Cygan will be short.

"They still need 90 minutes before they play in the final."

Of Wednesday's match, he added: "There was some fantastic football, but we still lack a bit of security defensively."