By Phil McNulty Our man with England

Give him two seconds to work it out and he can play all over the place Michael Owen on Carragher Jamie Carragher profile

Liverpool's Jamie Carragher has won the backing of his England team-mates to step in for injured John Terry in the Euro 2004 opener with France.

Terry is now a serious doubt after injuring a hamstring against Japan.

But Carragher's Liverpool team-mate Michael Owen said: "I've got no worries about him playing against France.

"He's one of the most intelligent footballers I've ever seen. Centre-half might be his best position and we all have great faith in him."

Carragher is on stand-by to deputise in Lisbon on Sunday and Sol Campbell is also convinced the Merseyside-born defender is up to the job of taming Thierry Henry.

Terry gets fitness deadline

"Hopefully John Terry can still play, but both Jamie and Ledley King have had great seasons," said Campbell.

"I'm pretty relaxed with whoever plays because whoever comes in will do their best and Jamie and Ledley are both very good players.

"These things happen in international football, but we have the players to cope with that.

"But last thing we want to do is risk John when he's not fully fit.

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"There is no point in him coming on and just playing 45 minutes and missing the rest of the tournament. I've seen this sort of thing happen with players and it's just not worth it," Campbell added.

Owen is one of Carragher's closest friends, the pair having played together through the Anfield ranks, including Liverpool's 1995 FA Youth Cup winning team.

The striker added: "Jamie can play anywhere. Give him two seconds to work it out and he can play all over the place."