Fabio Capello has privately expressed surprise at John Terry’s sudden return from injury in Chelsea’s 5-0 win away to Middlesbrough on Saturday. The Italian was forced to leave his captain out of England’s recent World Cup qualifying wins over Kazakhstan and Belarus because of a back problem and had expected him to continue to rest until Chelsea’s Champions League tie against Roma at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Although Capello did not have a formal agreement with Chelsea, the England manager was under the impression before the weekend that Terry would continue to recuperate because he was not fully fit.

He was barely troubled during the match and came through the comprehensive victory unscathed, but the uncertainty highlights the potential for conflict between club and country when it comes to managing Terry’s increasingly common injuries.

Terry suffered the back problem that continues to trouble him during Chelsea’s Champions League draw with CFR Cluj almost three weeks ago, since when he has played in two games for his club and missed two for England. The 27-year-old had surgery on a similar problem two years ago, which kept him out for two months, but there are no plans to operate at the moment and he will be nursed through the season on a match-by-match basis.

The potential for conflict is heightened by the differing attitudes of Capello and Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager, towards managing injury. Capello insists that all of his players must be fully fit to play, or even travel with the squad to away games, whereas Scolari is prepared to let them play through the pain barrier, speaking in awestruck tones on Friday about Terry’s willingness “to die on the pitch”.

Terry’s instinct is far closer to Scolari’s, to such an extent that in an interview last season he said he would be happy counting his “medals from a wheelchair” at the end of his career if his sacrifices led to serious injury, but he is unlikely to be indulged in such a manner at international level and his continued willingness to put his body on the line could even be detrimental in the long term.

England do not have a competitive match until Ukraine visit Wembley on April 1 and Terry could be rested from the intervening friendly internationals against Germany, Spain and Slovakia, particularly because Capello wants to look at alternative options at centre back in the event of further injury. Terry will want to play, however, and whether the FA will be happy to have the England captain sidelined because of his commitment to his club remains to be seen.

Scolari hopes to have Deco in his squad for Roma’s visit after a month out with a hip injury. The Portugal playmaker came on as a substitute against Middlesbrough. Ashley Cole’s hamstring problem should have healed in time for the match at home to Liverpool on Sunday.