Upson on England duty

Matthew Upson will hope to figure for England when they take on the Czech Republic in an international friendly on Wednesday night.

All the attention on Tuesday was understandably on who would get the nod for the captain's armband between John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, with the former ultimately chosen. Although it would appear Terry and Ferdinand are Upson's direct rivals for a place in the team, the West Ham United defender has been working hard in training while fellow central defender Jonathan Woodgate was forced to miss an initial session but should be in contention to play.

The match will be the last chance for Fabio Capello to assess his players on national-team duty before the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers get under way in earnest in September. While Upson naturally hopes to figure at Wembley, new recruit Valon Behrami has headed back to Geneva to help Switzerland in their friendly match against Cyprus while Lucas Neill should lead out Australia for their friendly against South Africa on Tuesday night.