Makeshift England face Montenegro

Fabio Capello will rely on a third choice strikeforce and an untested defence as England attempt to seize control of their Euro 2012 qualifying group with victory over Montenegro here Tuesday.

The injured list has lengthened in the 48 hours before Tuesday’s Group G game at Wembley, with striker Darren Bent, who had been expected to start, being ruled out Monday less than a day after centre-half John Terry was sidelined.

The withdrawals mean Capello is likely to field Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch up front while banking on a new central defensive pairing for the fifth consecutive match, with Rio Ferdinand lining up alongside Joleon Lescott.

What had previously been regarded as a straightforward three points for England has now acquired the look of a potential banana skin against opponents who lead the group with three wins out of three.

England’s injury crisis has left Capello needing a big performance from Ferdinand, who was restored to the starting line-up and the captaincy on Monday after missing the last seven games.

Steven Gerrard had made a strong case to be awarded the armband on a permanent basis after leading England impressively in Ferdinand’s absence during the World Cup and in victories over Bulgaria and Switzerland last month.

However Capello said the Liverpool skipper accepted that the captaincy would now revert to his first-choice Ferdinand.

“I spoke with Steven yesterday evening and explained why Rio will be captain against Montenegro. He understood everything – he knows the rules. I have also told the players that Rio would be captain,” Capello said.

“I decided when I started as England manager who will be the captain and the vice-captain. The players understand why Rio is the captain, and after him Steve Gerrard, and after Gerrard another one.”

“When I spoke with Steven I told him, ‘you were a fantastic captain and you have to play like a captain tomorrow’.”

Gerrard is likely to partner Gareth Barry in central midfield with Ashley Young and Adam Johnson filling in on the flanks for the suspended James Milner and injured Theo Walcott.

Capello meanwhile was confident that the injury-prone Ferdinand was fully fit after monitoring his form for Manchester United.

“He is fit completely. Also I watched the game against Valencia. I think now he’s 100 percent fit,” Capello said.

“He’s really important for the other players, he speaks a lot during the game. It’s really important for me, I prefer this kind of player on the pitch.”

Ferdinand will need to be at his sharpest as he and Lescott attempt to shackle Montenegro’s in-form captain Mirko Vucinic.

AS Roma star Vucinic has scored against both Ferdinand in the Champions League and will be Montenegro’s main attacking outlet on Tuesday.

Vucinic scored in a 1-0 victory over Switzerland in Podgorica last Friday which propelled coach Zlatko Kranjcar’s team to the top of Group G with maximum points from three matches.

Despite being the newest footballing nation in the world after only receiving FIFA membership in 2007, Kranjcar insists his team will travel to London with realistic hopes of an upset.

“I have told my players we must not go to London to go shopping,” Kranjcar said. “We go to England to prove that our results are not just lucky. England are an excellent team but I think that we have a chance at Wembley.”

Defender Milan Jovanovic meanwhile said the Montenegrans would have little pressure on them heading into the game.

“We know we have nothing to lose, just the chance to pit ourselves against a strong team who will be under pressure to win,” he told The Times.

“Already what we have done in this group is historic, far more than anybody could have imagined. England will look at us with a new respect and be worried.”