Terry will meet Fabio Capello to discuss his future as England captain

Former England manager Graham Taylor believes too much emphasis is placed on the role of national team captain.

Current England boss Fabio Capello is due to meet John Terry to discuss his future as captain after Terry's alleged affair with a team-mate's ex-partner.

"We overstate the importance of it as far as I'm concerned," said Taylor, who managed England from 1990 to 1993.

"The most important thing is how Terry performs as a player, not that he is captain," Taylor told BBC Radio 5 live.

"It is an honour to be captain of England but if we are saying we will miss John Terry as a captain more than we would miss him as a player then something is wrong."

Chelsea defender Terry, 29, is alleged to have had an extra-marital affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend of England team-mate Wayne Bridge.

And Taylor suggested that the key question for Capello would be whether Terry's performances would be affected if he took the captaincy away from the Chelsea defender.

"I think he will look at a far bigger picture and think twice about it," said Taylor.

If removing the captaincy from him will affect his performances... I think he will think twice about it Graham Taylor

"If you are selecting an international side then you are selecting the best players in the country.

"Within that group of players there will be five, six or seven captains."

Taylor, who managed Aston Villa and Watford, revealed how he had had to deal with marital infidelity among his players that bore comparison to Terry's circumstances.

"It was a very similar situation. It was a former wife, they had been split up," said Taylor.

"But it had come to the attention that this affair was going on, but it hadn't happened while they'd been married, they were actually split up.

"The whole situation died away and both players remained in the team."

The Football Association has made it clear Capello alone will decide Terry's fate, and the duo are expected to meet on Friday.

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