Terry Venables: Rio Ferdinand faces losing England spot

HEAVE-HO CAPELLO ... but will the England boss ditch former skipper Rio Ferdinand?

MUCH has been made of Frank Lampard's England future but it is Rio Ferdinand's Three Lions career that appears to be under greater threat.

Having lost the captain's armband, the Manchester United defender is now in real danger of losing his place in the team.

Ferdinand was left out of the squad for Friday's 3-0 win in Bulgaria and Tuesday night's clash against Wales after hurting his hamstring in United's opening-day win at West Brom.

It is not the first time he has been ruled out of Fabio Capello's squad through injury.

But it is the first time I have wondered whether he will actually get back in the side when he is fit.

Whenever Ferdinand was sidelined in the past, his return to the team was guaranteed.

But this may no longer be the case.

The emergence of Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling and, even more importantly, Phil Jones have put the 32-year-old's place in serious jeopardy.

Bolton's Cahill stood in for him in Sofia and did an excellent job.

It may not have been the best Bulgaria team in history, but plenty of rookie understudies have come unstuck when placed in similar circumstances.

Cahill, though, looked very steady alongside John Terry at the heart of the England defence.

He also looked very steady in the Bulgarian box, where he kept his head — and feet — to open the scoring with a well-taken goal in only his fourth appearance for his country.

You cannot get too carried away with the way he handled his first competitive test in a Three Lions shirt.

But you have to admit the signs are encouraging.

The same could be said for Smalling's performance.

The Manchester United defender hardly put a foot wrong at right-back as he once again showed he may have a promising future in an England shirt.

Smalling admits he would rather play at centre-back but there is no reason why he can't excel in both positions.

It would add to his all-round game and increase his knowledge bank.

And you have to ask, if he was that accomplished in an unfamiliar right-back role, what would he be like in his favoured centre-back position?

But surely the biggest threat to Ferdinand's international future comes from another United youngster, Jones.

The Red Devils' £16.5million summer signing from Blackburn was not even named among Capello's subs in Sofia following his promotion from the Under-21 squad. But as we saw from his displays for the Young Lions at their disappointing Euro finals in Denmark in June, it will surely not be long before he is a regular on such senior occasions.

At 19 he is certainly England's greatest defensive prospect.

The emergence of young talent, such as Jones, Smalling and Cahill may not be good news for Ferdinand but it is great news for England.

If you'd have said a year ago we would start in Bulgaria without Ferdinand, Lampard, Glen Johnson, Jack Wilshere, Steven Gerrard, Adam Johnson, Aaron Lennon, James Milner and Darren Bent, many Three Lions fans, including myself, would have feared the worst.

But our display in Sofia shows how much Capello's squad has fattened up.

England have always had a decent team, but now for the first time in a while it seems like we have a decent squad as well.

When Lampard can only command a place on the bench, you know the team must be strong. And Gareth Barry and Scott Parker's performances completely justified Capello's midfield selection.

Some critics have already written off Lampard's England future, but the Chelsea man could still have a vital role to play if Capello reverts to a more traditional 4-3-3 formation. But with so many options for the Italian, his squad looks so strong, flexible and competitive.

That said, I would keep the same starting line-up against Wales tomorrow. After the way they started against Bulgaria they certainly deserve another go.

The all-British clash was always going to be the more difficult of the two qualifiers — although we can thank Luca Banti for making it a little easier for us.

The Italian referee's decisions to book Craig Bellamy and David Vaughan in Wales' 2-1 win over Montenegro in Cardiff on Friday mean the pair will both miss the Wembley crunch.

Both incidents were very harsh and with bookings now brandished willy-nilly, it is time football's law-makers changed the rules on players getting banned for picking up just two bookings. Four or five would be fairer in this day and age.

Wales will come to Wembley with a lot of confidence — but not an awful lot of strength in depth.

And that is something you cannot say about England right now.

Our squad is fatter and better than it has been for quite a while.