Who should replace John Terry?

A back injury will force the England captain to miss the World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at Wembley on Saturday. Who do you think should replace him?

Matthew Upson is the favourite to step up but the West Ham United defender has made only eight appearances for England in an international career stretching back six years.

Joleon Lescott is the obvious alternative but he failed to impress in the match against Andorra last month and was not thought good enough even for a substitutes' spot against Croatia four days later.

Wes Brown can also play at centre half, even if recently he has played more often at right back for Manchester United and his country. He is, however, the most experienced of the three.

Suddenly, the choices available to Fabio Capello look slim in what has been regarded as England's strongest position. So, who would you line up alongside Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the defence?

Let us know in the comment box below.

Comments

[Stephen]

Longterm I think Terry is very over-rated. Gets out of position a lot. Big heart small vision. Woodgate is stronger, much stronger.
Micah will play there one day

[iain mc]

david wheater is strong and technically good. Not particularly quick but then neither is terry. He will get goals regularly and is destined to replace terry eventually. As a boro fan i would like to see him in the squad as i think he would have been had he not been needed by the under 21s on friday. At present woodgate is the best of the remaining bunch but his form has dipped markedly since joining tottenham. So that leaves the suggestion a few others have floated of johnson rb and brown at centre which i would say overall and based on form is the way to go. Personally i wouldn't have upson even in the squad.

[Chapman]

Micah Richards even when injured is better than these alternatives.He is the one English defender who has the pace and skill to match the Worlds best forwards.

[john]

woodgate, his is very experienced and just because he is playing for spurs doesnt mean that his is low on confidence and not playing well. if fact he is playing well and the reason spurs are bottom is because they cant score, not because the defence is playing badly, plus he has no defencive cover infront of him.

[Bob]

I think Woodgate would be enough for this and upcoming games even though his club is not at the best moment, ive been wathcing some international games recently and saw a deffender on the Mexican team, his name or last name is Magallon, he plays with Marquez from Barcelona, I was suprised!!! We should buy him, It would be great to see him in my Newcastle

[Robert Hillery]

I would go with Upson. If you move Wes Brown from right back you would have to put Glen Johnson in, fine against the weaker opponents on Saturday but against Belarus and Alex Hleb, Brown will be much better at right back. Play Upson with Ferdinand so they get some playing time togther because Lescott is out of form. Plus I think Upson and Ferdinand's style would complement each other better.

[WB]

I'd agree with Wes Brown as the best choice replacement centre-half (at the moment) but then who do you put at right back, with Richards unavailable? Would you feel safer with Glen Johnson, Joleon Lescott or Matthew Upson in the side?

[ian]

Why not pick a young, tall, mobile centre half who is in the best form and playing with great confidence and has recently snuffed out Adebayour, Walcott, Bent, Lennon, Owen, et al....Michael Turner, Hull City.

[Matt - Singapore]

Although not an outstanding player, Matthew Upson is pretty solid and I am sure he can do a job against Kazakhstan.

Lescott is in terrible form at the moment and Woodgate is playing for the team which is bottom of the league so Upson seems the sensible choice.

[Dave N]

Jaime, No one dismissed Carrager, he dismissed himself because he didn't get to play CB. He didn't like being used as cover and as a holding midfielder. He has also said that it hurts more when Liverpool lost than when he lost with England. Probably why he missed that penalty - because he didn't really care.
Paul Scholes & Shearer may have retired form international football but both can be said to have given their all for England, no question about pride in their country there.
The other point is that Carrager was never picked as first, second, third or even fourth choice CB for England because he doesn't have enough pace.
Thirdly he has been asked to come back by 2 England managers and refused. Whats the point in suggesting he should play?
Out of those in the squad I'd go with Brown, but would prefer Woodgate who is probably better than Terry any way. Richards will be a right back for the future.

[Wandering Where?]

I remember seeing Wheater at Wolves a few years back. He didn't look too good back then. He appears to be one of these 'Best of British' players who puts everything on the line physically in a game and so is rated highly, although technically he is somewhat lacking. I don't think Wheater would ever become an England regular so we should go with someone that would be a likely stand in during a World cup tournament i.e. Wes Brown. Could you put the centre half of the Premiership's bottom club in the side ala Woodgate?!

[AS]

It should be Woodgate or Richards as the backup CB, but both are not in the squad - Woodgate apparently in low-confidence (he plays for Spurs!) and Richards injured/not good enough as a CB according to Capello. Out of the alternatives in the squad, Upson should partner Rio the stand-in captain...

[Michael]

Brown definitely has the experience and pedigree to play centre back plus he already has an established understanding with Ferdinand. The other alternatives don't bear consideration bearing in mind we have David James in goal !

[Paul]

Upson is an average player and Lescott is just plain crap. Brown is ok and rates higher than the others.

I'd have to agree with some of the posts saying to give Whether a chance. He looks a good defender and will gradutate to the senior squad sooner or later. These would be good game to bleed him in and get his confidence up.

Or beg the hughly under-rated Carragher to reconsider his retirement.

But then again agains the level of opposition, who cares?

It might make the games remotely interesting and competitive if Rio was the only centre back as part of a ten man team. Or pick a seat at random and let whoever is sat in it play and make Lescott sit in the stand where he belongs.

[Bledi]

Woodgate.

[AJ]

gerrard and lampard centre backs. Sort out an understanding

[Roy]

One of the best centre halfs in the Premiership so far this season has been Michael Turner of Hull City.

Although this game may have come too soon for him, if he continues to progress as well as he has so far, an England call should not be too far away.

[Colin]

Anton and Rio, sibling defensive telepathy.

[Timothy Tanner]

Jamie, Richards is injured.

[DJ]

David Wheater.. what a good idea, give him some experiance.

[JAMIE]

Jamie Carragher!

England thought they could dismiss players like Jamie Carragher, looks like they need him now. Same story with Scholes & Shearer, we have no replacement once a class player steps away from the International stage. Looks like Capello needs to find somebody new, personally i would pull Micah Richards out of the under 21's and play him, he is the England captain for the future but can already show he is International quality.

[Gav Burke]

David Wheater, he's young, in good form and professional to boot.

[Sam]

Wes Brown without question.

[Helen Dollard]

Jamie Carragher.

[Bernie]

Wes Brown definitely, as he has plenty of experience playing alongside Rio, and neither of the alternatives are having outstanding seasons.