World Cup qual. - England train without quartet

Eurosport - Tue, 07 Oct 23:41:00 2008

England began training ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers without a quartet of players, including skipper John Terry.

FOOTBALL England John Terry - 0

Terry (pictured) felt a niggle in his back at the end of Chelsea's win over Aston Villa on Sunday and was not expected to train on Tuesday ahead of Saturday's clash with Kazakhstan at Wembley.

The other missing men were Terry's Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole, Manchester United's Wes Brown and Stewart Downing of Middlesbrough.

All four were confined to gym work, but the quartet are expected to train on Wednesday and Thursday, when it is expected Capello will play his intended side in a full-size training game.

With Joe Cole out with a foot injury, it is believed Capello will ditch the plan of having a holding midfield and instead pair Steven Gerrard with Frank Lampard in central midfield.

Although the duo has never seemed to work together as a unit, the England coach knows he needs to get the most from the world-class pair, although the presence of Gareth Barry could provide some insurance against the Eastern Europeans.

Theo Walcott is expected to retain his right-sided berth after scoring his memorable hat-trick against Croatia last month, while the return of Peter Crouch provides some competition for Emile Heskey, who should nevertheless partner Wayne Rooney in attack.

Team Talk / Eurosport

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    the easiest solution to the lampard or gerrard saga is­ get rid of them both neither is any use to england club­ level very good, international level 3rd division

    From richard, on Tue 7 Oct 7:03PM

  2. lampard forever! stevie g rules also!!!

    From baltag.alexandru, on Tue 7 Oct 6:57PM

  3. All this toing and froing about who should be captain­ is laughable as you are just supporting your man. What­ really matters is that England do qualify for the next­ WC and play well to get there because it is unlikely­ any of the other home countries will, although there­ were many who said the last Euro was better for England­ being absent as we did not have to put up with the hype­ and the final failure in a group. This country is not­ together anymore as the fanatics really support their­ PL team. It is time this changed. Flamboyant wins will­ help us all focus, if not there will be the usual blame­ by the press

    From taff, on Tue 7 Oct 6:06PM

  4. I thought Heskey n Owen up front did the job for­ England in the past ? Should give ashley young a­ chance. He'd give a fresh look to the side, and­ provide pace and good crosses.

    From ispurs, on Tue 7 Oct 6:02PM

  5. My suggested team

    ­ Rooney Owen

    ­ ­ Lampard
    Barry ­ Walcott
    ­ Gerrard

    ­ A.Cole Terry ­ Ferdinand Lescott

    ­ James

    From Johnny W, on Tue 7 Oct 5:57PM

  6. Owen Must Play!!!

    From janjalia_janjala, on Tue 7 Oct 5:51PM

  7. That's what I said! lol

    From gusser69, on Tue 7 Oct 5:22PM

  8. Don't you mean Capello?

    From gusser69, on Tue 7 Oct 5:20PM

  9. in reply to jonathan g

    ....SCOLARI....?????

    From hjrobson, on Tue 7 Oct 5:19PM

  10. if they aint fit enough to train....they aint fit­ enough play....GIVE THEIR PLACES TO PLAYERS WHO DO.

    From CHRISTOPHER, on Tue 7 Oct 5:16PM

  11. if they aint fit enough to train....they aint fit­ enough play....GIVE THEIR PLACES TO PLAYERS WHO DO.

    From CHRISTOPHER, on Tue 7 Oct 5:16PM

  12. Isn't it about time that Scolari made a decision to­ play the best 11 that work as a team, in a flexible­ system as opposed to the continuing saga of Lampard or­ Gerrard. This nonsense wouldn't happen in a­ European Champions League game!

    From jonathan, on Tue 7 Oct 4:57PM

  13. would get rid of all the over rated mamby pamby @#$%­ pots
    bring in the guys who want to play!
    who would be­ proud to pull on the england top

    From Les O, on Tue 7 Oct 4:56PM

  14. Re earlier statement....I meant The Euro Qualifiers,­ NOT the World Cup. Anyway, whatever.....

    From melaniepoynton, on Tue 7 Oct 4:26PM

  15. Written by Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly (I­ say no more)

    From John, on Tue 7 Oct 4:25PM

  16. It's Neville to Campbell, Campbell to Rio,
    Rio to­ Scholes'y, Scholes'y Gerrard.
    Gerrard to­ Beckham, Beckham to Heskey, Heskey to Owen
    To goal

    it­ sounded so easy back then :(

    From mattymogo, on Tue 7 Oct 4:23PM

  17. Gary to answer your question the last time Crouch score­ a header was Thursday in Europe so he can actually­ score with his head.

    From Michelin man, on Tue 7 Oct 4:11PM

  18. IF ur not fit for the training you shouldn't be in­ the squad!!!

    From Richie, on Tue 7 Oct 4:10PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    If Wayne Rooney ever became England Captain, would he­ sing the national anthem as all the others in the past­ have?

    From John, on Tue 7 Oct 4:09PM

  20. And for all you idiots screaming that the captain's­ armband should be taken from J.T and given to Gerrard,­ who was England's captain the night we got stuffed­ AT HOME by Croatia and booted out of the World Cup??­ And then went on to admit that it was his "worst­ game ever" in an England shirt??

    Oh, wait.....

    From melaniepoynton, on Tue 7 Oct 4:09PM
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