England's John Terry (right) with teammates Rio Ferdinand (centre) and Wayne Rooney, during a team training session in London yesterday. England will play France in an international friendly match in Paris, tomorrow. - AP

CLAIREFONTAINE, France (AP)

France will be without captain Patrick Vieira and strikers Thierry Henry, Louis Saha and Karim Benzema for their friendly against England tomorrow.

France coach Raymond Domenech put the spate of injuries down to a hectic schedule with many high-profile games coming in quick succession.

"It's often like this at this time of year,'' Domenech said. ''It's a difficult period, with the crowded calendar. I am impatient to go to training to see how many players are in shorts and how many are in the ambulance.''

None of the injuries are serious, however, and Domenech hopes the players will be fit by the time he names his squad for the European Championship in early May.

"I am not worried now because we are only at the end of March,'' he said. ''At this time of the year, it is not catastrophic. In one month's time, it could be.''

Juventus striker David Trezeguet comes back into the France squad for the first time since September 2007.

"I am very happy (for Trezeguet),'' Vieira said yesterday. ''He is having a great season and is scoring a lot of goals.''

Trezeguet leads the Italian league in scoring with 17 goals and is also France's third all-time highest scorer with 34 goals.

"I know what the French team represents for Trezeguet,'' said Vieira, who has a sore thigh and won't be available until this weekend for his club, Inter Milan.

Domenech had not selected Trezeguet since the 1-0 home loss to Scotland in Euro 2008 qualifying. Now, three months ahead of the tournament, Trezeguet has another chance to stake his claim.

Domenech maintains the 30-year-old Trezeguet, who featured rarely as a substitute at the 2006 World Cup, can still make the final squad and insists he is not lower down the pecking order of strikers.

"I've never had rankings, except for goalkeepers,'' Domenech said. ''It's a question of competition for places. There are choices to make at a certain time. We don't know what the situation will be in three months' time. I already know what his abilities are.''