England without Lampard and Terry for European qualifiers
Published:Chelsea have confirmed Frank Lampard and John Terry will miss England’s European qualifiers with Bulgaria and Switzerland after both were in injured in the Blues win over Stoke City.
Lampard requires a hernia operation which is scheduled for next week and it remains to be seen how much football he will miss, whilst Terry has a problem with his hamstring and will be rested for a couple of weeks.
The two are key losses for Chelsea as they face tough matches against Arsenal and Manchester City over the next few weeks in a bid to retain the Premier League, of which they are currently 5/4 favourites.
Terry’s withdrawal leaves Fabio Capello with a lack of experience among his central defenders as he prepares to name his squad.
Capello put in the groundwork yesterday as he looks to resurrect his England management career after the poor showing at the World Cup.
Fabio managed to squeeze in visits to three grounds, starting with Blackburn vs Arsenal before moving on to Blackpool vs Fulham and ending with Manchester United against West Ham
But it was a former Old Trafford favourite who was on Capello’s mind as he made a drastic u-turn, refusing to rule out David Beckham pulling on the England shirt in the future.
The Italian curtailed Beckham’s international career immediately after England’s victory over Hungary earlier this month but Beckham could feature in the Internationals next week.
England are 2/7 to qualify top of their group and are 8/1 to triumph in Poland and Ukraine in 2012.
Bulgaria are first up for England on Friday. Follow the latest European Championship Qualifying betting market here.
