England captain John Terry claims squad has no problems with his reappointment but acknowledges he is ‘not everyone’s cup of tea’

John Terry

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John Terry has acknowledged he isn’t the most popular of players in the wake of being handed back the England captaincy but revealed the squad have had no qualms with his appointment.

13 months after having the armband stripped by Fabio Capello due to his personal life involving former team-mate Wayne Bridge, the Chelsea defender is pleased at being named skipper once again by the Italian.

“I’m delighted to have the armband back,” Terry told reporters. “People could see that in me, when I didn’t have the armband the passion was still there.

“I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s the decision the manager’s taken and I have to respect that.

“I want to win for England. I kept my head down and concentrated on playing well for club and country.”

Capello decided to hand the captaincy back to the Chelsea centre-back due to Rio Ferdinand’s long-term injury and Terry confirmed the Manchester United defender contacted him after the decision was made.

“I feel for Rio. He called me after the game for Chelsea against Manchester City yesterday. It goes to show what a great man he is. We had a 10 minute chat and he wished me well. He cares about England, the main thing he asked was for us to keep winning matches.”

Terry also discussed other players in the team who might have been awarded the role, and marked Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney as a future captain.

“We’ve got some great leaders,” he said. “Frank Lampard, Wayne – who could lead England later on – and in the younger players there is Joe Hart.”

Terry spoke of the problems of the squad’s morale and whether the mood in the camp had altered after Capello’s U-turn on the captaincy.

“I can’t continue thinking about it losing the captaincy but the disappointment will stay with me for a long time,” he added.

“When I met Fabio and Franco Baldini on the day, I accepted their decision; that doesn’t mean to say I agreed with it. But I looked them in the eye and told them they would get nothing less from me in training and on the pitch.

“The manager confronted the team in training this morning. He asked if anybody had any problems and no-one said anything. If anyone does, I’d like them to come to me personally.”

England next face Wales at a sold-out Millennium Stadium in their qualifying campaign for Euro 2012 and Terry has praised Craig Bellamy, despite the forward hinting his dislike for the Chelsea captain after Manchester City’s 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge last season.

“Individually they’ve got a great spine – Gareth Bale, James Collins, Craig Bellamy – they are a great team,” he stated.

“Bellamy is a player I’ve got a lot of respect for. He shows a lot of passion, sometimes he is misrepresented. The guy wants to win, and will do everything to do that. He’s a great player.

“For me that’s the most important thing, to get ourselves in that position of qualifying for Euro 2012. We want to top the group and make sure we’re there at Euro 2012. I want to lead the lads into that tournament.

“For us we must win to put ourselves in the best possible position. Wales have had a bad start but we know first-hand with the players they’ve got they pose a threat individually.”