Ferdinand seeks skipper's role

Ferdinand: Wants captaincy chance

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Rio Ferdinand has admitted he would 'love' to be named England captain under new manager Fabio Capello.

The Italian will take charge of the national side for the first time in the friendly with Switzerland on 6th February after being named the successor to former boss Steve McClaren.

Capello has admitted he already has a team in his head but has yet to decide on who will captain England at Wembley and Ferdinand has revealed he would be keen to be handed the armband.

But the Manchester United defender could face tough competition from the likes of Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Gary Neville and John Terry - who skippered England under McClaren, but is still recovering from a broken foot.

Opportunity

"Who wouldn't want to be England captain," Ferdinand told Sky Sports News. "I would love to be given the opportunity to be England captain one day.

"But that is not the be all and end all. I just love playing for England, if you are named captain then that is a bonus and it's a great achievement in your life and your career."

David Beckham - who will make his 100th England appearance if selected - has also been widely tipped to be named captain to mark his century of caps, a move Ferdinand would welcome.

"Sentimentally, it's nice," Ferdinand continued. "Not many people get 100 caps in their career and Becks has done that if he gets in for the next game.

Confident

"If he's captain then it would be great, but 100 caps is 100 caps. You've got the 100 caps so I don't think he would be too disheartened if he wasn't given the armband."

Ferdinand is also confident Capello - who has had successful spells in charge of Milan, Roma, Juventus and Real Madrid - will turn around England's flagging fortunes following the failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

"At every single club that he has been too he has won trophies. That winning mentality is something that we need badly with England," Ferdinand added.

"For a long time now we have been in and around tournaments and not won anything.

"We have got a guy who has got very good winning habits. A lot of us have got winning habits with our clubs, but never managed to get that across with England and that is something we have to change."