 | England v Iceland - Sat 5 June City of Manchester stadium Kick-off: 1530 GMT Live on this website and BBC Five Live Match of the Day highlights, 2305, BBC1 |
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will not risk John Terry in the friendly against Iceland on Saturday. Central defender Terry strained his hamstring against Japan and misses England's last game before Euro 2004.
"He has a small problem with his hamstring. He had a scan and there is nothing to worry about," said Eriksson.
"But (Jamie) Carragher will probably play instead of Terry, while (David) James is not going to play, so (Paul) Robinson is starting the game."
Terry's problem only exacerbates England's central defensive worries with Rio Ferdinand serving a ban while Gareth Southgate and Jonathan Woodgate are both injured.
He added: "There are no other problems at all so we are going to start with almost the same team."
Terry was limited to training in the gym on Friday, but he should recover in time to face France on 13 June in England's Euro 2004 opener.
Fellow central defender Sol Campbell had a slight groin strain and was one of four players to miss training on Thursday.
But he returned to training along with Phil and Gary Neville, with Terry the only absentee.
Eriksson explained that if England were playing France instead of Iceland then Terry might have figured but he will not be risked at the City of Manchester stadium.
The Swede also stated he will be employing a 4-4-2 formation against Iceland instead of the diamond formation he tested out on Tuesday.
He said: "We will maybe need both systems in Portugal because it depends on who you play a little bit.
"We played the diamond against Japan so why not try 4-4-2 against Iceland?"
Eriksson did not reveal which formation he would use against France, who he expects not to be affected by their coach Jacques Santini's decision to quit and join Tottenham after the tournament.