FOOTBALL : Fabio Capello is confident John Terry will be fit to skipper England against Brazil on Saturday but Frank Lampard is set to miss up to three weeks with a thigh injury.
Fabio Capello is confident John Terry will be fit to skipper England against Brazil on Saturday but Frank Lampard is set to miss up to three weeks with a thigh injury.
Terry emerged as a doubt for the Doha friendly after sustaining a knock to his ankle in training and was not present at a scheduled media briefing at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Friday morning.
England boss Capello said on Friday: “He was running on his own and twisted his ankle. I am confident he will be fit for tomorrow.”
He added: “The doctors think so but I won’t take a risk. If he is not fit, he will not play.”
Lampard sustained a thigh injury in training on Thursday and flew home that evening.
“I think he will be out for two or three weeks,” said Capello. “It is a little problem with his muscle.”
Capello rejected suggestions the plane on which they flew to the Middle East was to blame for the problem.
“It is the same plane (we used to fly to) Trinidad and Kazakhstan,” he said.
Lampard joined a lengthy absentee list for the match, with squad regulars Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole, Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and David James all missing already.
