England's woes compounded as Terry is forced out by injury

Terry is the third player to withdraw from Fabio Capello's squad in as many days following the previous departures of Phil Jagielka and Aaron Lennon.

He is also the most significant given the Chelsea captain was virtually certain to face the Eastern Europeans, who have won all three matches so far and head to Wembley at the top of Group G.

The Football Association confirmed the news in a short statement yesterday evening.

"John Terry has returned to Chelsea this evening with a back injury," it read.

"Terry was assessed by England medical staff on Sunday and will not be fit to play any part in Tuesday's game against Montenegro.

"No further call-ups will be made at this time."

Capello's decision not to bring in any new faces stems partly from the fact he called up Bolton's Gary Cahill as Jagielka's replacement on Friday.

It had been suggested last week that Terry would partner Jagielka in central defence, leaving Rio Ferdinand on the bench, which would have had the secondary effect of handing the captain's armband to Steven Gerrard.

Now Ferdinand becomes the kingpin of the entire England defence, where he will almost certainly be partnered by Joleon Lescott.

The dramatic events are a reminder of how quickly situations can change in international football, and places a huge amount of trust in Ferdinand, who has played just four times since making his comeback from the knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup.

If there is any comfort for Capello, it comes from the knowledge that Lescott performed admirably alongside Jagielka in last month's victory over Switzerland in Basle.

Nevertheless, it was hardly an ideal piece of news just 48 hours before a match England have to win in order to avoid finding their hopes of reaching the finals, which will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, becoming unnecessarily complicated.

For Terry, it is the return of an injury that he had an operation to cure in 2006.

The 29-year-old is notorious for shrugging off minor problems but was forced out of last month's double-header, which started with a victory over Bulgaria, with a hamstring injury.

It will mean he has only featured once for his country since the World Cup, although for Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, the worry will be what the extent of his latest problem is given Alex and Yossi Benayoun have been ruled out for three weeks and six months respectively since the Blues were last in action against Arsenal eight days ago.

Chelsea, who have dropped just three points so far this season, face a tricky trip to Aston Villa on Saturday and have a Champions League double-header with Spartak Moscow sandwiching fixtures against Wolves and Blackburn before they face Liverpool at Anfield on November 7.

Wales caretaker manager Brian Flynn was forced to make further changes to his squad for tomorrow's Euro 2012 qualifier in Switzerland.

Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley, who started Friday night's loss to Bulgaria in Cardiff, was given leave to return home as his partner is expecting their first child.

Hal Robson-Kanu, who came on as a late substitute in the 1-0 defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium, has also withdrawn after a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

Defenders Chris Gunter and Sam Ricketts have also been forced out of contention due to suspension.

Flynn has bolstered his numbers by calling up Bournemouth defender Rhoys Wiggins and Swansea midfield pair Shaun MacDonald, currently on loan at Yeovil, and Jazz Richards.