Rio relishing captain's role

Defender wants crowd to play their part

Last updated: 10th October 2008

Rio Ferdinand England Training Press Conference World Cup Qualifiers

Ferdinand: Relishing test

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Stand-in England skipper Rio Ferdinand is relishing the opportunity of leading England out at Wembley for the first time.

Ferdinand has stepped into the breach against Kazakhstan on Saturday after permanent captain John Terry was ruled out by a back injury.

The Man Utd defender also captained the national side in a friendly defeat to France in Paris last March.

But he thinks leading England out at Wembley in a competitive match will be even better.

The 29-year-old said: "Being captain in any game is great, but leading out England in the first World Cup qualifier at Wembley is very special.

"I am very much looking forward to it. I will cherish this moment."

He added: "The biggest thing will be walking out at Wembley. It is a fantastic new stadium and the home of our national team.

Up ante

"To lead England out against France in Paris was great, but I think this will up the ante even more.

"Being at home in front of a sell-out crowd, in front of our own fans, my family there as well - I can't wait."

While disappointed that John Terry will miss the game, Ferdinand believes whoever replaces him in the centre of defence will do a good job.

He added: "John is a top player and to miss anyone of that calibre is disappointing.

"But there are pros and cons to every situation. He is out of the team through injury, which is disappointing, now someone else has to come in and throw their hat into the ring.

"Whoever the manager deems right to play will go in with every confidence and produce the goods."

Full backing

Ferdinand has appealed for the full backing of a capacity 90,000 crowd at Wembley to really put Kazakhstan under pressure.

He said: "People sometimes forget that football is entertainment, and we're there to entertain the fans.

"But it is a two-way street. They can help us entertain them; when they scream their hearts out and make some noise.

"A lot of times in away games the fans are very vocal and you come out of the stadium thinking the atmosphere was incredible, and if we'd gone a goal down it would have been a hard place to be.

"We want Wembley to be like that, through the way we play and with the help of our fans creating that kind of atmosphere."