Fabio Capello prides himself on being a thinking manager who can find a solution to the trickiest problem, which is just as well because he will spend the next few days grappling with a conundrum that has beaten his predecessors for the past five years. If he can forge a successful midfield partnership between Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard that is capable of winning matches for England then he may be worth £6million a year after all.

In recent years the seemingly endless discussion of the international careers of Lampard and Gerrard has been just as futile as arguing over the various merits of wine and beer, with a similarly depressing conclusion - both are great on their own but a mess ensues when they are combined - although the sober Capello views matters differently. As a relative newcomer, the Italian simply sees two of the best midfield players in the world in his squad and, despite achieving good results in Gerrard's absence against Andorra and Croatia last month, he wants them both in his team to face Belarus on Saturday. For what it is worth, the statistics back up his judgment.

Much of Capello's managerial philosophy rests on placing new demands on his players and asking them to leave their comfort zones, and such thinking will influence work with his two midfield maestros, and occasional misfits, on the training ground this week.

Gerrard has been shunted around the field in a manner that would cause him to sulk at Liverpool, appearing off a lone striker in support of Wayne Rooney in Capello's opening friendly internationals against Switzerland and France before being controversially deployed on the left against the Czech Republic in a move that so infuriated Harry Redknapp, and may have got the message that he must embrace flexibility as his friend.

Even Lampard, who is not noted for his selflessness at Chelsea, controlled his attacking instincts to do an important job for the team against Croatia in Zagreb in a deeper role alongside Gareth Barry and was rewarded with his best international performance since Euro 2004. Gerrard's instant reaction as he watched the match at home would have been fascinating to witness, but if he has any sense he will learn the lesson and begin to put his interests after those of the team.

If anything, Lampard's performances have improved in the past month, which is saying something, given that his consistency for Chelsea has been such that he has provided close to 20 goals in each of the past three seasons. In addition to scoring, the 30-year-old has begun to dominate matches in the manner of Gerrard at his best, with last weekend's clinical destruction of Aston Villa providing a case in point, as Petr Cech, his team-mate, outlined.

“Frank was superb,” the Czech Republic goalkeeper said. “That's why he has been a key player for Chelsea for many years now. He just keeps playing at this high level. Everyone sometimes has an average game, but how many times in the last five years have you seen Frank have an average game? It is unbelievable.

“He does not slip from that high level because he is a great professional. You can see that that his hard work pays off. He is always thinking about his game, he is always working own his game. That is why he is capable of keeping that standard.”

Since Gerrard returned from groin surgery last month, his form has hardly been shabby, with Rafael Benítez predicting that he could score another hundred goals for Liverpool after scoring his 100th with a typically thunderous strike against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League last week, although replicating such success for England has often proved beyond him. As the more naturally versatile player, he may be the one who is forced to adapt his game, although no doubt Capello will have more than one potential solution.

Starting to make a point

Since Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard started an international match together for the first time, England have recorded the best results (assuming three points for a win, one for a draw) when both started the game and the worst when only Lampard started.

Both started P39, W24, D10, L5 Points per game 2.10

Only Gerrard started P12, W8, D1, L3 Points per game 2.08

Only Lampard started P12, W6, D2, L4 Points per game 1.67