Ferdinand set to miss England tie

2011-03-13 15:51:26

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson does not expect Rio Ferdinand to be fit for England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales on 26 March.

The 32-year-old defender is sidelined with a calf injury picked up ahead of United's loss at Wolves on 5 February.

"Rio has been doing a bit of running. He will be ready for the game after the internationals," said Ferguson.

"I wouldn't have thought he would have a chance before that. I don't think it would be wise for him to be called up."

England skipper Ferdinand's expected absence for the game against Wales at the Millennium Stadium is set to reopen the debate of who should take over the captaincy.

Vice-captain Steve Gerrard is already out of the game after undergoing groin surgery which is set to rule the Liverpool midfielder out for a month.

The duo were also missing for England's last game when they beat Denmark 2-1 and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was handed the armband for the match in Copenhagen by manager Fabio Capello.

Lampard's half-time substitution resulted in his club team-mate Ashley Cole taking over the captaincy before the left-back passed it over to Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry when he came off late in the game.

Chelsea centre-back and former England captain John Terry played the whole match against the Danes and, although he had to watch on as the captaincy was shared around, there is speculation Capello wants to make him the skipper again.

Terry was stripped of the armband in February 2010 after allegations surrounding his personal life.

Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon

What are these?

E-mail this to a friend Printable version see also Ferdinand sidelined for two weeks 05 Feb 11 |  Man Utd Gerrard out for a month after op 11 Mar 11 |  Liverpool England 0-0 Montenegro 12 Oct 10 |  Football Capello strips Terry of captaincy 05 Feb 10 |  Football Welsh FA confirm England sell-out 23 Feb 11 |  Welsh Speed turns attention to England 09 Feb 11 |  Welsh Wales to match England - Ricketts 10 Feb 11 |  Welsh Republic of Ireland 3-0 Wales 08 Feb 11 |  Welsh Wales unveil Speed as new manager 14 Dec 10 |  Welsh Wales to face England in Cardiff 11 Nov 10 |  Welsh Wilshere impresses boss Capello 09 Feb 11 |  Football Denmark 1-2 England 09 Feb 11 |  Football related bbc links: Football on the BBC Your say - 606 International football related internet links: England Football Association of Wales Uefa Fifa The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Skip to top PRODUCTS & SERVICES Daily and weekly e-mails Mobiles Desktop Tools News feeds Interactive TV Podcasts A-Z of Sports American Football Archery Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Bowls Boxing Canoeing Cricket Cycling Darts Disability sport Diving Equestrian Fencing Football Formula 1 Gaelic Games Golf Gymnastics Handball Hockey Horse Racing Ice Hockey Judo Modern Pentathlon MotoGP Motorsport Netball Rowing Rugby League Rugby Union Sailing Shooting Snooker Squash Swimming Table Tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Weightlifting Winter Sports Wrestling blq.setLabel('searchSuggestion', 'Search BBC Sport');

Search term:

bbc.co.uk navigation News Sport Weather iPlayer TV Radio More CBBC CBeebies Comedy Food Health History Learning Music Science Nature Local Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Full A-Z of BBC sites BBC links Mobile site Terms of Use About the BBC Privacy BBC Help Cookies Accessibility Help Parental Guidance

Source: