PAUL GASCOIGNE has made more returns from injuries than he has passed up hot dinners in recent weeks. But when he walked off the field at the Slaski Stadium on Saturday night after just 18 minutes, there was an unmistakable feeling that there wasn't so much as a cameo role left for him as an international player. That thought had hardened by the end of a night in which England proved they can live without him.

David Batty, called on to replace a Gascoigne who, before his injury, had failed to get on nodding terms with the game, slipped into the pattern with the ease of a man who knew he should have been on from the start.

Before the game, Glenn Hoddle seemed genuinely shocked when it was suggested that playing Gascoigne would be a huge gamble. "It's not a gamble", said Hoddle, "it will be an astute decision."

On Saturday night, before the reckless challenge by Gazza that once again resulted in him coming off injured, Hoddle looked like just another mug punter. Gazza's injury helped to turn the odds in his favour.

While Hoddle was struggling to get his tactics right, there was always going to be a bandwagon for Gazza. Now Hoddle is finding the correct balance, he might have the courage to break the cycle of dependency which consumed his predecessors as England manager.