The veteran Chelsea defender, who is expected to retire from international football at the end of the tournament, had to pull out of France's team to face the Three Lions after failing to recover from a knee injury.

It means Lillian Thuram will move to central defence for France, where he will partner Manchester United's Mikael Silvestre, while Chelsea's William Gallas is expected to play at right-back - and Zinedine Zidane will be made temporary captain.

Desailly said: "I'm sure Zizou will do an excellent job and of course I will be cheering from the side. I would have liked to have played but I am still feeling pain and the coach has to be cautious with it because I am not 100 per cent.

"I have four days to prepare for the next game and hopefully I will be ready. It's not the sort of game you can play in if you are 85 or 90 per cent fit.

"We have plenty of players who will take on the responsiblity and a team who can switch positions without a problem. This is good as it takes pressure off other players and allows us to approach the game calmly.

"As captain I would have wanted to play, but I am still staying positive. It's an important game for us because the minimum for this team is to reach the knockout stage and then take it stage by stage after that.

"We are not thinking we are in the final straight away, but we want to be positive."

It isn't only France who have had problems with injuries in defence, of course. England will be without John Terry, with Ledley King a possible replacement.

Desailly knows all about the Tottenham defender after playing against him in the Premiership and he doesn't expect him to struggle.

He said: "Ledley King will have a lot of experienced players around if he plays, like David Beckham, Michael Owen and Sol Campbell, and they will help him through.

"They will tell him it will be a difficult game and that the first mistake will count. So I'm sure he will be prepared."

France manager Jacques Santini will take an extra interest in King's progress, because he will be in charge of the defender at White Hart Lane next season.

But he is more concerned with the players further up field for England.

He said: "We have to have a big respect for England, especially when you look at their midfield and their front line. They are also very dangerous from free-kicks when they can do a lot of things.

"It's a very big match, we know that. And I think everybody is looking forward to it."