JOHN TERRY BELIEVES that David Beckham will be one of the first names picked in Steve McClaren’s England squad for the crucial European Championship qualifiers against Russia and Israel. Beckham is still struggling after an ankle injury as his hesitant 12-minute cameo on his debut for Los Angeles Galaxy showed, but Terry has backed him to regain full fitness in time for September’s double-header.

The Galaxy have a run of four successive away matches in August, so Beckham is unlikely to be risked for next month’s friendly against Germany, but Terry insists that England need their former captain for competitive matches.

“I think he will play in the qualifiers and I certainly hope so,” Terry said. “On behalf of the whole squad I think I can say that his performances in the last two England matches make him one of the first names on the squad list and we have to hope that he is fit for our games because we need him.

“He will play in middle for LA but that will not be a problem for England. I don’t think it will. He’s very experienced and can shift from one position to another. I think it will be quite good for Steve McClaren to see him play in a different position. It’s the same for all of us. If someone gets injured then we may have to move to a different position for England and that’s the way it is.” Beckham’s injury could have worsened after a strong tackle from Steve Sidwell in the dying moments, but the former Reading midfield player has no regrets over his crunching challenge.

“Obviously I knew it was him, but it was just like any other tackle for me,” Sidwell said. “I went into it fully committed, but I didn’t really touch him to be fair. We got up and had a little laugh and a joke afterwards, but there were no problems. I don’t know about nailing him. It could have been worse. But we got up and had a good laugh and a joke. It was a fantastic atmosphere out there. The fans have taken to him straight away, as they would, and it’s nice to see him playing out on the pitch.”

Chelsea’s next outing is a friendly against Feyenoord on Wednesday, with Terry hailing it as his best preseason at the club. “It’s been very positive getting to know the new players and the gaffer has been very relaxed and we have been allowed to sit around the pool and chill out in the time between sessions,” Terry said. “The intensity has been great because it has put our fitness levels right back up. Now we are just lacking that little bit of match sharpness, which will come in the next few days.”