Midfielder says England are now able to replace quality with quality

James Milner says he is confident England will cope with an injury to John Terry that has ruled the defender out of Tuesday’s big match against Ukraine – and prove they now have a squad to take on the world.

Terry, who aggravated an ankle injury during Friday’s 5-0 win in Moldova, will not be fit in time to face the Ukraine and joins a long list of players unavailable for the match, including his Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole.

But Milner, who scored one of the goals in Moldova, says the squad is good enough to cope – and getting stronger all the time.

He said: “John is a top player, we all know that. But I think you can see the strength of the squad. We’ve got a number of options who can step in. It’s good for someone else to step in and have a chance – it’s not going to weaken the team.



"JT is not going to be easy to replace but we’ve got a number of top candidates and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

“The squad is in a great place. We are very blessed to have some of the experienced players and there’s a lot of younger faces coming in too - he likes of Ox [Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain] who has stepped in and doesn’t look fazed at all. It’s a good mix to have.

“The competition for places is great now. And that kind of competition for places is what you want, not just to be in the team but to be in the squad. With the number of injuries we’ve got it’s good that other players are coming in and doing a job.”

England know all about the Ukraine having faced them in Euro 2012 but after so long on the road, Milner is looking forward to coming ‘home’ on Tuesday.

He said:“It’s always great to play at Wembley; it’s an unbelievable stadium and the England fans are fantastic.

"Sometimes we have played better away from home, which is strange. But this time we want to take three points and carry on from where we left off in Moldova.”

Tickets for the Ukraine match at Wembley on Tuesday are still on sale, and a family of four can come along for a bargain price of £60