Martyn Williams was left out of the Wales squad on Sunday © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Warren Gatland | Martyn Williams

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: Wales

Wales coach Warren Gatland has refused to close the door on Martyn Williams' international career.

The 35-year-old flanker was a high-profile omission from Gatland's squad for the Six Nations, with youngsters Sam Warburton and Josh Turnbull vying for the openside berth against England at the Millennium Stadium on February 4.

Gatland has maintained that Williams, who is two caps short of joining Gareth Thomas as Wales' second Test centurion, could still force his way into the reckoning for a Rugby World Cup berth, while injured backs George North and Gavin Henson have not been discounted as late call-ups for the Six Nations.

"Absolutely, there is always a chance for Martyn," Gatland said. "I spoke to Martyn on the phone before the squad was announced. We knew what a quality player he is, and has been, a great servant to Wales.

"There are still one or two players that might be added to the squad later on, someone like George North, who is coming back from injury, and with Gavin, it has been stated he needs to play some rugby.

"He needs to get some games under his belt. I thought when he went on for Saracens against Leinster [eight days ago] before he pulled his calf muscle, I thought he showed a couple of nice touches. It would be good to see him get one or two more games under his belt, and he may come into contention, but not until he does that."

Gatland also confirmed that there will not be many surprises in his side to take on England. Wales have suffered on the injury front in recent weeks, with North and Henson joined on the sidelines by props Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins and centre pair Andrew Bishop and Tom Shanklin.

"We are pretty close to what we think is a team that will take on England," he said. "I don't think there are going to be too many surprises in the England side. I think they are fairly predictable.

"We are quite clear of what team we think England will pick, and looking at our squad, they can fairly comfortably get close to picking our team as well. We may see a couple of contrasting styles on Friday week. We expect England to really take us on at scrummaging and drive a lot of lineouts. We've got to match them up-front, but we also want to play some rugby."