Terry 'almost Certainly' Out of Russia Game

John Terry has been all but ruled out of England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia tomorrow afternoon, just hours after being passed fit to play.

The press had been told that England captain Terry would require "a minor operation" to remove floating bone in his knee in the near future, but would nonetheless be fit to play. However his knee locked again during training this afternoon, prompting Steve McClaren to admit there was very little chance he would make the game.

"John Terry is almost certainly ruled out of tomorrow's match," said the England manager. "His knee locked towards the end of training and he could not complete the session."

Terry was considered a major doubt for the Russia game earlier in the week after locking his knee in training last week and missing Saturday's 3-0 win over Estonia. But he showed no adverse reaction to a 60-minute session at the Blessed Thomas Holford RC School in Altrincham yesterday, and Steve McClaren had expected his captain to start against Russia.

McClaren will tell the squad his starting XI tonight and it is thought that Sol Campbell will replace Terry and play in a back four alongside Rio Ferdinand, with Joleon Lescott starting at left-back and Micah Richards on the right. At training yesterday, McClaren fielded the four-man midfield that started the game against Estonia, with Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right, Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry in the middle and Joe Cole on the left. Frank Lampard, who came on to make a midfield three against Estonia, trained with the second string.

A draw against Russia would mean that they only need a point against Croatia at Wembley next month to qualify for Euro 2008. However McClaren insists his side will be going for the win tomorrow. "We are in pole position," he said. "We come here knowing that a draw is a good result, but we are here for a win. Our performances in recent games have been good, Russia should be worried about us. They have to win.

"We're confident and we have belief," added McClaren. "We have great respect for Russia but it's about what we do. We need heroic and inspirational performances. If we are going to progress in international tournaments that is what we're going to have to do."