Confident England boss Tony Smith has backed Bulls duo Jamie Langley and Paul Sykes to prove their worth at the World Cup.

The selection of loose forward Langley was a relative surprise when Smith named his 24-man squad yesterday for the tournament in Australia.

Many had written off his chances following a slow start to the season, while he was overlooked for June’s French international amid fierce competition for back-row spots.

But he finished well, is booked on the plane Down Under next Monday and Smith believes the player’s versatility – Langley has regularly pushed up to prop for Bradford this year – is key, especially as he has chosen only four specialist front-rowers.

“Jamie is a quality footballer who has been on the verge of selection for some time,” said the England chief.

“He can play pretty much anywhere in the forwards and has done so during training already over the last two weeks.

“He’s looked comfortable in all of them and will work his socks off to do whatever it takes to win.

“Jamie is consistent, a quality young person who has also had some great experience of beating Australia before on Australian soil.

“Quite a few players in their junior ranks did that and it is another quality he brings to us.

“But they (Langley and Sykes) are no surprise to me. They’ve been playing very well for their club during the domestic season and both have certainly got a degree of versatility about them.”

Tough operator Langley, 24, famously skippered the England Academy when they defeated Australian School-boys six years ago.

Now he has the chance to do it at senior level and Smith added: “Jamie’s a good leader of people and a good person who, like Sykes, mixes in well with the rest.

“Sykes gives us some kicking ability as well which is something else that had to be taken into account.”

Some critics have cited Sykes’ high error count – only two players made more than the 16-try centre in Super League XIII – as a possible weakness that will be exploited in the high-pressure tournament.

But Smith, giving an insight into the way his side may attack in Australia, believes that should instead be looked as a positive.

“I’m sure if Paul is called up he’ll handle that pressure, go out there and play with some of the flamboyance I know he has,” he said.

“Some players who take risks are what I’ve looked for; we need people to do that at times and Paul can help there.

“We need people who can put things on the board but are prepared to make a mistake or two.

“I don’t shy away from them and I’m certainly not a coach who looks at completion rates who wants my players to take as little risk as possible.”

And in Sykes’ defence, statistics can be mis-leading – he made 33 errors, only three more than Leeds Rhinos’ Brent Webb, one of the world’s most coveted stars.

Victorious Grand Final stand-off Danny McGuire’s mistake tally isn’t far behind and his England credentials have never been questioned.

Strong-running Sykes, 27, has enjoyed a fine season in his first year back from Harlequins and proved a quality acquisition for Bulls boss Steve McNamara.

He saw off competition from Castleford’s Michael Shenton, Wakefield’s Ryan Atkins and Hull FC’s Kirk Yeaman to nail a centre berth behind England’s expected first-choice pairing of Keith Senior and Martin Gleeson.

The fact Sykes has effortlessly and impressively filled in at full back isn’t lost on Smith, who only has one recognised No 1 in his squad in St Helens’ Paul Wellens.

Also, he is one of the competition’s top clean breakers – if we are going on stats – and is comfortable on the wing, can play stand-off and is a competent goal-kicker.

Sykes and Langley both made their Great Britain debut during Smith’s first game in charge against France last year but haven’t lined up since, Langley missing the series win over New Zealand due to a wrist injury.

They have played for the second tier England side before but are expected to feature for the first time in the real deal against Wales in Doncaster on Friday night before departing for Oz.

The first World Cup match is against Papua New Guinea in Townsville on October 25.

Bulls team-mates Sam Burgess, Andy Lynch, Paul Deacon and Terry Newton were all ruled out by injury but full back Michael Platt has been picked for the Ireland squad.