KEY POINTS:
MOSCOW - England captain John Terry will almost certainly miss Thursday's Group E Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia, manager Steve McClaren said today.
Terry, who sat out the 3-0 win over Estonia at Wembley last Sunday with a knee problem, had earlier declared himself fit but locked his knee towards the end of an hour-long training session on the artificial turf at the Luzhniki Stadium.
McClaren, whose team will reach the finals in Austria and Switzerland if they beat Russia, said the Chelsea defender could not complete the session and is "almost certainly ruled out".
Portsmouth central defender Sol Campbell is again likely to deputise as he did on Sunday.
Terry had earlier told a news conference: "I am fully fit but I will have to have an operation in the near future to remove a bit of floating bone."
The England captain took part in a warm-up and practice match on Wednesday but broke down after the players split into groups for the final 25 minutes of the session.
"He locked his knee towards the end of training and could not complete the session," added McClaren.
Looking ahead to Thursday's match the England manager earlier said: "I am delighted to be in this position where it is all on Russia to have to win the game.
"We expect them to come storming at us for the first 20 minutes or so and we are determined to defend it right and to keep a clean sheet.
"You do not qualify for major tournaments in March or April, you qualify over the last few games in October or November and I always thought it would come down to this.
"It will be a very big test for everybody but I am confident we have the players to go out and complete the job."
- REUTERS
