Fabio Capello has said that John Terry should still be playing for England because he believes that the player is one of the best defenders in the country.
The Italian resigned as England manager after Terry was stripped of the Three Lions captaincy by the Football Association in 2012 over allegations that the centre-half had directed racist abuse towards Anton Ferdinand the previous year.
The Chelsea skipper retired from international football in September 2012 following the FA's decision to pursue charges against him, and Capello, who is now in charge of Russia, believes that the 34-year-old would still excel in England's backline.
"He is one of the best. [England] haven't got a lot of defenders but they sometimes have problems," BT Sport quotes Capello as saying.
"It's better to have a player like John Terry than not have him. But I don't think he has the chances to play with the national team any more. [The FA] decided he could not play with the national team and I didn't understand because he was not guilty.
"When it happened I said to [then FA chairman David Bernstein], 'You decided he's guilty? No, he's not guilty'. I fought for this and they said, 'No, you can't decide about the player, you need to wait for the court decision and everything'. I said, 'Why have you decided before I've asked you?'"
Terry won 78 caps for England after making his debut in 2003.
Steven Toplis
