Terry out, Ferdinand captain for Kazakhstan game
Friday, 10 Oct 2008 22:43
Terry (right) will miss Saturday's qualifier with Kazakhstan so Ferdinand will take the armband
England captain John Terry has been ruled out of the World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at Wembley on Saturday, Fabio Capello has confirmed.
In his Friday press conference, Capello revealed that the Chelsea defender has been severely limited in training this week and will not be risked.
Fellow centre-back Rio Ferdinand will step in to take the armband for the first competitive home fixture of the Italian's reign.
Terry only participated in the side's training session intermittently on Wednesday because of a back problem, which flared up during the Blues' Champions League match against CFR Cluj last week.
He was also forced to miss all of Tuesday's session due to the same injury, and was again absent during Thursday's workout.
Capello refused to rule his captain out of next Wednesday's qualifier in Belarus, but said he is a doubt.
An announcement from the England camp on Wednesday confirmed: "John Terry took part in some of the session this afternoon, though he didn't complete the whole session and will continue to be assessed."
Joleon Lescott, Wes Brown and Matthew Upson will compete for Terry's place in the side, with Brown expected to get the nod.
Whoever partners him in the centre of the back four, Manchester United star Ferdinand says he is looking forward to returning to the national stadium following the side's 4-1 win over Croatia last month and urged fans to get behind the side.
He said: "I love playing at Wembley. I would just ask [the fans] to get behind us and sing their hearts out.
"If it is a real cauldron, like it is in Zagreb, that helps. No one enjoys facing 90,000."