Competition for England Euro places welcomed by Capello

Head coach Capello has some big calls to make with his team selection for the Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro at Wembley although the task has been made slightly easier by injuries to Theo Walcott and Jermain Defoe and the suspension of James Milner.,

If Capello uses the absences as a way of getting Frank Lampard back into his starting line-up, it will mean a change of role for Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard, or possibly both, which he might be loathe to do considering how well the pair played in England's excellent start to their qualifying campaign.

Unless injuries bite at the back as well, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry can no longer be sure of their place either considering how well Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka performed against Switzerland last Tuesday.

Capello has never shown any sign of being fazed by such huge decisions.

However, while he confirmed Lampard, Terry and Ferdinand do have a future within the national set-up, they may also have to steel themselves for some bad news.

"They are important players," said Capello. "But after these performances I have to decide. I need to choose the players I think are in the best moment.

"We still have one month but if they want to stay with us, they have to accept my decisions."

Capello is hardly likely to start making bold statements about his selection to face the only other team in Group G to boast a 100 per cent record, indeed the only team to have collected any points at all.

Yet in his assessment of England's first competitive games since the World Cup debacle, Capello has given those involved last week plenty of room for optimism.

"There are players I selected before but they were injured," he said. "You can see the players in the last two games were really good. They not only played like good players but also like a team. That is really important.

"The midfield was fantastic. It was a very good balance.

"Our opponents did not have a lot of chances to go forward or score a goal. When we lost the ball we went to win it back very well.

"It is good when you have competition," added Capello. "I wouldn't say it is any greater than it was before. It has more or less always been the same.

"But now the level of some young players is the same as the older ones. Before there was a big difference."