Welbeck called into England squad

The 20-year-old forward, who is on loan at the Black Cats from Manchester United, joins the squad in place of the injured Spurs winger Aaron Lennon. Lennon felt a twinge in his hamstring after England training on Monday. England boss Fabio Capello is expected to make "about seven changes" to the team which beat Wales on Saturday.

Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry will captain the side after newly-appointed skipper John Terry was one of six players rested for the first international fixture against the Black Stars. Terry's fellow Chelsea team-mates Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have also been released, as well as Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and Tottenham's Michael Dawson.

Aston Villa's Kyle Walker returned to his club with an injury problem. Welbeck scored a fine goal for the England Under-21s in their 4-0 win over Denmark on Thursday, but was then released from the squad by boss Stuart Pearce before their 2-1 defeat by Iceland on Monday night.

He has had a good season for Sunderland, scoring six times including a goal during the memorable 3-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but he was hit by a knee injury in January. If Welbeck does feature for England, he could come up against Sunderland team-mate Asamoah Gyan, who is set to play up front for Ghana.

Capello said on Monday that he would start with Liverpool striker Andy Carroll and would also select Manchester City keeper Joe Hart in goal with Everton's Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka and Bolton's Gary Cahill in defence. The Italian also indicated West Ham midfielder Scott Parker would play if he shrugged off a minor injury, following a sure-footed display in the 2-0 win over Wales in Cardiff last weekend.

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Gerrard - Capello called me

The manager spoke to me. He spoke to me and just explained what he'd been doing - he didn't have to.

Steven Gerrard
Quotes of the week

Steven Gerrard has revealed Fabio Capello spoke to him about the England captaincy - even if he ignored deposed skipper Rio Ferdinand.

The Italian has come under criticism after performing a U-turn and handing the armband back to John Terry, having previously stripped him of the job for his off-field behaviour.

Capello did not speak to Ferdinand about his decision despite being at Old Trafford for Manchester United's UEFA Champions League game with Marseille earlier this month.

But Gerrard, who is the vice-captain, told Goals on Sunday that the England coach called him to explain the situation, even though he was not part of the squad for the Wales game.

"I did actually get a call," revealed the Liverpool midfielder. "The manager spoke to me. He spoke to me and just explained what he'd been doing - he didn't have to.

"The manager's paid to make big decisions and he's made the decision and I think we all have to respect it and move on."

Gerrard, who captained England at the 2010 World Cup, also gave his backing to Terry, even though he had some sympathy for Ferdinand.

But he also insisted the England players were fully behind Capello's decision and called for a line to be drawn under the whole incident.

"The captaincy's very important and I'm really pleased for John that he's got it back because I know what it means to him," he said.

"I know he's been frustrated since he lost it.

"We have to all respect the manager's decision. The good thing is that we went on and won the game and played well.

"We can all move on from the captaincy thing now. Everyone's obviously upset for Rio because he hasn't done anything wrong to lose it."

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