STEVEN Gerrard will miss England's World Cup qualifier against Belarus tonight because of a groin injury. The Liverpool captain picked up the injury during Saturday's 1-0 defeat in Ukraine and limped out of the morning's training session.
England manager Fabio Capello said: "He didn't finish training because the pain was the same as yesterday. He's going back to Liverpool."
Capello will experiment against Belarus in the final qualifier, but Rio Ferdinand will start after holding ta
lks with the England boss over his mistake in Ukraine.
Capello has stressed the need for "plan A, B and C" with or without talisman Wayne Rooney – out with a calf injury – but Ferdinand is a certain starter at Wembley when England wrap up their Group 6 campaign.
"Rio will play against Belarus," Capello said. "I have big confidence in Rio. He will play and I'm sure he will get better with every game. I spoke with Rio, on Monday and this morning, and I will speak also with some other players. We will see the DVD of the game to understand what happened and I will see the mistakes."
Capello's message is that England's work is not done, despite eight wins from nine qualifiers. Gareth Barry was left out against Ukraine, illustrating how no place can be taken for granted.
"There's no guarantee of the place and we won't always play the same style," Capello said. "We need to play other styles – style A, B, C. It depends on the opposition and the style of the game we need to play. I will do some experiments against Belarus. It's possible to see a different style on the pitch and that will be very interesting for me. For me, it is a lot of experiments."
Rooney has been England's top goalscorer on the path to South Africa, but Capello is keen to see how his team play without the Manchester United forward.
"Rooney is a very important player for us and Manchester United," he said. "For this reason we will play a different style against Belarus, with some different players.
"It will be a very interesting game for me. From this experience I will know some players better. I have big confidence in all the players.
"Rooney is important because the style of Rooney is the style I like in my team. He is an important player, but we have others. We can win with Rooney and without Rooney."
