The first name on my teamsheet would have been John Terry before Wayne Bridgegate, to be honest I could not care less who JT is having a fling with, but his form dipped after all the media attention and the non handshake palyground spat at the Bridge. There is no doubt in my opinion that JT has to go to SA and his form is on the up, but is he a starter - yes he is! He is brave, reads the game well and is a leader (perhaps even without the armband). A must for the plane and definate  starter if his form continues to improve post - he experienced and is proven class .

Rio Ferdinand - Fabio’s captain so he is in. The questions are; is he fit? is he still a ball watcher? Well I think he and Terry are our best centre backs and barring injury they will start.

The first choice left back is Ashley Cole and word is he will be fit by late April. I would ask Leighton Baines to dust off his passport as Cole’s cover because Wayne Bridge has burnt his bridges as far as I am concerned - he does not want to play for his country in the greatest tournament on earth so we must accept his decision and move on.

Right back is Glen Johnson who is a better defender than he is given credit for and he is very good at going forward. We could cover him with versatile but erratic Wes Brown, but he can give the impression of lacking confidence at international level.

Back up for the centre backs is interesting; West Ham’s Matthew Upson is a solid and dependable centre back and Wes Brown can also cover centre back as well as full back as can Everton’s Joleyn Lescott. Ledley King is a class act but injury prone as is his Spurs team mate Jonathan Woodgate, but could Michael Dawson be a late addition to the squad he is coming into form at the right time.

Other outsiders are Manchester City’s Micah Richards who was a rising star a couple of years back but has fallen down the pecking order. We also have the luxury of two midfielders who may be on the plane such as Gareth Barry and James Millner who can drop into a back four