Gerrard to captain England, Ferdinand out

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."