Gerrard to captain England, Ferdinand out

| Thursday February 25, 2010 00:00

Capello will turn to Gerrard to lead out the team after stripping Terry of the captaincy because of several off-field issues culminating in the disclosure of an alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the ex-girlfriend of his former Chelsea and England team-mate Wayne Bridge. Ferdinand had been due to supplant Terry but will miss the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa on Sunday and Sir Alex Ferguson immediately ruled him out of joining up with the England squad for Wednesday's game.

'He got a twinge in his back this morning in training,' the United manager said. 'He'd been training great with no mishaps at all. But when you get these twinges you can't take a chance. He won't be ready for Sunday. He'll miss a couple of games.'

The consequences for Ferdinand are grave. The defender is 31 and, though Ferguson said it should be only a short-term setback, he and Capello could be forgiven if they are increasingly concerned about Ferdinand's inability to put together a sustained run of games.

Ferdinand has played only 11 times this season and his longest run of successive games is three. There have been only two occasions when he has played back to back games and he has just returned to the side after a three-month lay-off. The problem has actually afflicted Ferdinand for 18 months and perhaps the most worrying part is that United's medical staff had feared it could recur. For Capello, it is a particular worry when Ashley Cole's participation in the World Cup is also in severe doubt because of a fractured ankle.

An otherwise satisfying night for United was also tempered by Anderson suffering a knee injury that will almost certainly rule him out of Sunday's final, and _possibly much longer. The Brazilian went straight to hospital for a scan after coming off in the 19th minute. 'We're hopeful it's not serious but it doesn't look good,' Ferguson reported. (Guardian)