Saturday, September 05, 2009

Steven Gerrard Likely To Be England Captain In John Terry's Absence


John Terry remains a big doubt because of his groin problem for Saturday’s friendly with Slovenia at Wembley, with Steven Gerrard poised to be captain.

Terry trained at Arsenal’s London Colney complex on Thursday, but Fabio Capello is unlikely to risk him ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Croatia, also at Wembley. A win in that could confirm England’s place at next summer’s finals in South Africa.

England confirmed that their entire squad trained “to some extent”, with Bolton defender Gary Cahill joining in after his call-up as cover for Terry.

Terry’s usual partner in the centre of England’s defence, Rio Ferdinand, has already been ruled out of the games with a thigh problem.

Tottenham’s Ledley King is also unavailable because of injury. Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott are likely to face Slovenia if Terry misses out. It will be the first time they have started together.

Wes Brown’s prospects of challenging Glen Johnson at right-back looked brighter yesterday; he sat out Wednesday’s training because of a small muscle problem.

Leading England out will be a fillip for Gerrard, who had a troubled summer. He looked back to his best in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Bolton, scoring a late winner.

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