Debate: who should replace John Terry?

Until recently England’s stock of centre backs was the envy of the world, although anyone able to sneak a look at training yesterday as Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott took it in turns to partner Rio Ferdinand would have come away with a different impression. England’s goalkeepers also once set a standard that other countries struggled to match before a dramatic tailing-off in quality and quantity over the past two decades, so perhaps the art of defending has undergone a similar decline.

There is no problem with Fabio Capello’s first-choice pairing of John Terry and Ferdinand, but after the captain and vice-captain the standard drops alarmingly. England have just about managed to cope without one of their stalwarts in recent years — as they have had to, given Terry’s worsening injury record — although when they are both absent, problems tend to ensue, as was shown in the most recent competitive match at Wembley when Croatia scored three times to knock them out of the European Championship.

The England manager could be forgiven for inspecting the mattresses at the team hotel in Hertfordshire this evening, because if Ferdinand’s back problem flares up overnight, even Kazakhstan could cause England problems at Wembley tomorrow.

It was not always thus. It seems odd to recall that only a few years ago Terry, the captain of a Chelsea team on the verge of dominating English football, was struggling to get in the England starting XI and required Ferdinand to be banned for eight months for missing a drugs test to get his chance alongside Sol Campbell. And even then the Manchester United player was brought straight back into the starting line-up by Sven-Göran Eriksson, the head coach at the time, as soon as he had served his time, with Terry again missing out.

Last summer England’s strength in depth at the back was sufficient for Jamie Carragher — angered by Steve McClaren’s preference for Ledley King for a European Championship qualifying match in Estonia — to retire from international football because he could not see himself getting a look-in. How Capello could do with the Liverpool defender’s spirit and determination.

The disappearance of Campbell and Carragher from the international scene is easily explained by age and apathy, although the failure of others to make the step up is more disappointing. It is clear that King’s knee problems will prevent him fulfilling his potential, a doubly cruel blow because Capello is a big admirer, which cannot be said about Jonathan Woodgate. Woodgate has stayed fit this season, but Capello is unconvinced, while also considering Micah Richards too raw to be exposed at centre back. The Italian is more favourably disposed towards Wes Brown, but is reluctant to move him from right back.

All of which left Upson and Lescott attempting to play their way into the team in London Colney yesterday, to the surprise of even themselves. On the surface, Lescott is the man in possession because he played when Ferdinand missed the victory over Andorra with a sore back last month, although Capello cannot have been too impressed because the Everton defender failed even to make the substitutes’ bench against Croatia four days later, when Upson replaced Terry for the final two minutes.

The doubts over Lescott are compounded by his poor form this season at the heart of an Everton defence that has conceded 16 goals in eight games. Upson, the West Ham United defender, has generally been more consistent in his nine appearances for England, although filling Terry’s boots will not be easy. England have lost only one of 28 competitive matches in which Terry has played, as opposed to four of the nine without him, which explains why Capello is so keen to have him back to face Belarus next week.

Terry will stay with the squad this weekend, despite showing no improvement yesterday, although Capello will take him to Minsk only if he is able to train with England on Monday. If not, the understudies must show their mettle.

- Fabio Capello looks likely to persist with his plan to play Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in midfield against Kazakhstan tomorrow after both were given prominent roles in training yesterday (Matt Hughes writes). Although the England manager continued with his habit of mixing up his players throughout the two sessions, he devoted much time to working on a 4-3-3 formation, with Lampard and Gerrard playing alongside Gareth Barry. If Capello uses 4-3-3 tomorrow, Emile Heskey will be asked to lead the line, supported by Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott, although England could switch to a 4-4-2, with Gerrard moving to the left.