John Terry may yet play against Spain

Posted Tuesday, November 08, 2011 by The Sun

JOHN TERRY could yet feature in Saturday's showpiece Wembley friendly against world champions Spain.

The Chelsea defender, at the centre of race-row allegations, is likely to be on the bench because Phil Jagielka is set to pull out.

Everton centre-back Jagielka has been unable to train between games due to a fractured toe and will be assessed when he meets up with the squad. But his club believe he will have to withdraw.

Three Lions boss Fabio Capello had said he would leave Terry out because he wanted to look at other players and not because of his alleged racial slur against Anton Ferdinand, which is the subject of a police investigation.

However, Capello will only have Joleon Lescott and Gary Cahill to call on for the central defensive berths, having decided that Phil Jones will play in central midfield.

That means, at the very least, Terry is likely to be a substitute.

The FA insist that the decision to select Terry for the squad was unanimous between Capello and the four members of the Club England board, managing director Adrian Bevington, FA general secretary Alex Horne, FA chairman David Bernstein and director of football development Trevor Brooking.

Bevington said: "There was absolutely no disagreement whatsoever.

"What Fabio chooses to do now with picking John or not, in terms of playing or being captain, that's entirely up to Fabio.

"We do not have any input or involvement in that. In the same way with the squad selection, that was Fabio's decision and we supported him in that.

"We met for a final time on Friday because we wanted to leave it as late as we could in terms of the investigation before we named the squad.

"We were all in agreement, as these were allegations at this stage and nothing more while the investigation goes on, that John was in the squad as normal."

SunSport revealed yesterday that the police did not want Capello talking about the Terry situation.

Bevington confirmed: "The police are very clear they don't want us discussing the case. That is something we have to respect."