Johnson and James Kirtley who was in the squad for England's innings and 92 run win in the first Test at Lord's but did not play will compete for the place left vacant by Matthew Hoggard's injury.

England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: "Richard Johnson has been in our plans for a while and has been selected now that he is fully fit again after suffering from a groin strain earlier in the season.

"He is in good form and is a bowler who is capable of 90 mph pace and making the ball swing.

"At this stage, it is our intention to play the same side as we did at Lord's with Richard and James Kirtley competing for the place made available by Matthew Hoggard's injury."

On Wednesday, while bowling for Yorkshire, Hoggard tore a cartilage in his right knee.

Hoggard's county colleague Anthony McGrath, a batsman and occasional medium-pacer who made his Test debut at Lord's, has a side injury but a scan revealed no major damage and he retained his place in the squad.

England are still without frontline quicks Andrew Caddick (foot) and Andrew Flintoff (shoulder) who both missed the first Test.

However, playing purely as a batsman, hard-hitting all-rounder Flintoff made 154 for Lancashire against Kent at Canterbury in the County Championship on Friday.

But Graveney insisted England were right not to include Flintoff for his batting alone: "Andrew Flintoff is back playing for Lancashire as a batsman and we will continue to monitor his fitness. But we did not consider him for this Test Match as we feel that he is not yet ready for the rigours of a five-day game."

Johnson, 28, who was included in England's one-day squad on Thursday, is arguably the unluckiest English cricketer still active in the first-class game. He made his name back in 1994 by taking all 10 wickets in an innings for his former county, Middlesex, against Derbyshire.

Johnson built on that performance and he was selected for England's tour of South Africa in 1995-96. But injuries meant he had to pull out.

In 2001 he was on standby for three home Ashes Tests against Australia but never played and although selected for England's tour of India in 2001-02, after Caddick withdrew because of safety concerns, he did not play an international.

Thursday's Test match, the last of the series, will also be the first to be played at the Riverside.

SQUAD Nasser Hussain (captain), James Anderson, Mark Butcher, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Robert Key, James Kirtley, Richard Johnson, Anthony McGrath, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan.