Steven Gerrard fit and ready to win his 100th England cap

Published on 13/11/2012 00:28

England captain Steven 
Gerrard has been passed fit for tomorrow’s friendly against Sweden after a scan on his knee and is set to become the sixth Englishman to win 100 caps.

Gerrard took a knock during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday but the Football Association said the midfielder would travel.

“Steven Gerrard has been cleared to travel with the England squad to Sweden having undergone a precautionary scan on Monday afternoon,” the FA said on its website. The news will come as a relief to manager Roy Hodgson, whose squad has been depleted by the withdrawals of five players including Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott.

Gerrard’s relaxed demeanour in the England hotel yesterday suggests there is not too much to worry about.

The skipper’s 17-year-old Liverpool team mate Raheem Sterling could win his first cap, as could Everton’s Leon Osman, 31. Osman, who played for England as a schoolboy, was a surprise inclusion in the squad, but said that, while he was looking forward to winning his first cap, he was delighted his old rival 
Gerrard was about to join the century club.

“It’s fantastic, there’s only a select band that has managed to do it and he certainly deserves to be in that crew. He is a fantastic player and leader of men. I think we first played against each other when we were about 12 or 13 years of age on Merseyside and to now see him get his 100th cap is fantastic, but not surprising.”

The only other men to play 100 times for England are Peter Shilton (125), David Beckham (115), Bobby Moore (108), Bobby Charlton (106) and Billy Wright (105).

England ended a 43-year jinx, one of the longest in international football, when they beat Sweden 1-0 in a friendly at Wembley a year ago before following that up with a thrilling 3-2 win at Euro 2012. Apart from a penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the Euros, Hodgson remains unbeaten in his opening 11 matches with England.

Meanwhile, John Terry has escaped a lengthy injury lay-off after Chelsea confirmed he had suffered “no significant damage” to his knee ligaments in the draw with Liverpool.

The European champions announced captain Terry would be sidelined for “weeks rather than months” following an MRI scan on the injury that forced him off during yesterday’s game at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea posted on their official Twitter feed: “MRI Scans reveal no significant damage to John Terry’s cruciate ligaments. He will be out weeks rather than months.”

Any absence is nevertheless a huge blow for the Blues, with Terry having suffered the injury in his first game back after his domestic four-match racism ban. The club had struggled badly in defence in his absence, slipping from first to third in the table.

He will almost certainly miss their potentially decisive Champions League Group E game at Juventus, as well as crucial league matches against West Brom and Manchester City.

He could even be a doubt for their Club World Cup trip to Japan early next month.