French national coach Roger Lemerre has, as threatened, named a virtually full-strength 20-man squad for the infamous friendly in Australia... so that means call-ups for Vieira, Wiltord, Pires and Henry.

Eight Premiership players have been selected in all: two from ManU (Barthez and Silvestre), two from Chelsea (Desailly and Petit). The only notable absentees are Bayern Munich's Sagnol and Lizarazu - who previously negotiated their omission, as they're flying to Japan for the Intercontinental Cup a fortnight later.

According to the Press Association, Lemerre told a press conference: 'No interference from anyone is tolerable or acceptable. It's unacceptable to think that the French team can be taken hostage. I feel very unconcerned - I have never hesitated on the players to call up.'

Lemerre accused the protesting clubs of making their petition 'to earn more money' by effectively demanding financial compensation for the players' absence. And he couldn't resist a dig at Arsenal: 'A club who regularly has three or four players called up to play for France, it should be an honour for the club.'