Fabio Capello Wants Steven Gerrard To Captain England For World Cup Qualifiers

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has emerged as the leading contender to take over the England captaincy full-time.

According to the Sun, England manager Fabio Capello says he will make a decision in a fortnight.

And the Italian has also revealed that he sees a midfielder as the ideal choice to take the armband when England begin their quest for World Cup qualification against Andorra in September.

Last week, Capello revealed the battle for the England captaincy had been narrowed down to two candidates with Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand leading the way.

The England head coach has also given John Terry, David Beckham and Gareth Barry the captain's armband during his first four matches in charge.

Beckham started as skipper in England's last friendly against Trinidad and Tobago before Barry took over from the LA Galaxy midfielder when he was substituted.

A source close to Capello said: "Fabio is thinking very hard about this decision but likes to see his captains in the middle of the park bossing the game.

"No one has been ruled out but it looks like Gerrard is ahead."

Capello has been happy with the progress made in the four friendly internationals since he replaced Steve McClaren nearly six months ago. "I think we will be okay the minute we play against Croatia,” he said last week.

"For the qualification games, we will be okay. I am very happy with the progress we are making."