Newly trimmed Terry a cut above for England

England captain John Terry revealed a hair cut from Wayne Rooney helped get him in the right frame of mind to keep his country on course for the World Cup finals.

Terry scored England’s late winner as Fabio Capello’s side consolidated their position on top of Group Six with a 2-1 victory over Ukraine at Wembley on Wednesday.

The Chelsea defender celebrated his goal by mimicking a trim with Rooney and then admitted he had let his England team-mate loose on his hair earlier in the week.

“In the week I needed a little trim up. We’re not allowed to leave the hotel or anything so I asked Wayne and he obliged,” Terry said.

“I’m pleased with it. I might go back next time. He was asking for 10 pounds and I still owe him it!”

Terry’s tale underlined the positive vibes currently surging through Capello’s squad after an impressing run of five successive victories, which have put England within touching distance of next year’s finals in South Africa.

Capello has restored England’s shattered morale since taking over in the aftermath of their failed attempt to qualify for Euro 2008.

“I think you can see it in the way the lads are training,” Terry said. “Everyone has got a smile on their face around the camp.

“The manager has made some changes and things are going really well for us. The players are happy and doing what’s right.”

Terry was especially pleased with the way they fought back after Andriy Shevchenko cancelled out Peter Crouch’s opener.

“We showed good desire. At 1-0 I think it was a little bit too easy for us,” he said. “But at 1-1 the desire and fight was shown.

“We could have settled for a draw and walked away half-happy but we got the push from the fans and a kick up the backside from ourselves as well and went on to get the winning goal. So overall we’re very pleased.

“It’s disappointing to concede from a set play. We’ve done a lot of work on that over the last 10 days. But we scored two goals from our set-plays so it seemed to work there as well.”

Terry wasn’t the only one hogging the spotlight with his celebrations.

After his 29th minute volley, Crouch launched into a bizarre shuffling routine based on a comedy sketch from a BBC charity television programme that brought back memories of the robot dance that made the Portsmouth striker such a hit when he first burst onto the international scene.

“I’m blaming Rio (Ferdinand) entirely for that. He shouted at me to do it after I scored,” Crouch said. “It’s a bit of a release. It’s always enjoyable when you score a goal for England so it was just a bit of fun.”

While the feelgood factor is clearly back in the England camp, Crouch knows he has a lot to do on a personal level before he is a regular member of the team.

Only injuries to Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Darren Bent forced Capello to hand Crouch his first start under the Italian.

Crouch insists he can only give his best and get on the scoresheet.

“When given the opportunity I have just got to take it and let everybody else worry about who is first choice and who is fifth choice,” he said.

“I always feel if I play I do well. I felt confident I could score a goal and I’m pleased I have done.

“If I play for England it is always a proud moment, especially at Wembley.

“All I can do when given minutes or a start is impress. I can’t get in his (Capello’s) head. Obviously I would pick me every week!”