FA chairman Greg Dyke has suggested that the lack of English players in Manchester City's team on a regular basis means that it will be "pretty depressing" should they lift the Premier League crown.
The Blues only need only a draw from their game with West Ham United and are again expected to field a mostly foreign-born starting lineup.
However, Dyke believes that the fact James Milner and Joe Hart have been the only homegrown talent featuring regularly in the City side is a damning indictment for the national game.
He told reporters: "It has been a great league this year, the Premier League has been brilliant. But there are probably two England players playing at City and two or three at Chelsea – although there won't be that many next year – and that's pretty depressing.
"The figures we produced on Thursday showed that the top four English clubs averaged 29 per cent of English players starting games last year, which was down to 24 per cent this year, and we should be worried about that.
"Liverpool, on the other hand, have been pretty exciting this year with three, four or five English players and that's good news. That's good news for Roy Hodgson, that's good news for the campaign in Brazil."
Earlier this week, Dyke proposed the introduction of a new competition featuring B teams from Premier League and Championship clubs.
Chris O'Keefe
