Coppell calls for immediate action

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Coppell has suggested introducing a system where each top flight side must include at least one Englishman in their matchday squad.

"I still maintain that we play in the 'English' Premier League, it's nothing to do with any kind of racism," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

The 52-year-old's disillusionment with the modern game in this country may well have been stoked by his side's meeting with Arsenal's multi-national side on Monday.

Arsene Wenger's squad featured players from nine different nationalities, with just one Englishman, Theo Walcott - who came off the substitutes' bench with seven minutes remaining of the Gunners' 3-1 win.

Coppell admits his passion for this issue stems from a desire to see the England national team succeed and insists it is nothing to do with racism.

"We are in the English Premier League yet all the majority of the teams at the top end of the Premier League have very few English players," he added.

"We have to protect our own development. I think it's a necessity that over the course of the next couple of years, even if it starts with one English player per 16, we protect our identity by having a limited number of English players within our own environment.

"There are certain clubs that would go against that but as someone who wants the English national team to do well it's something that's got to happen."