Ashton working hard with England

Dean Ashton is working hard in training to do enough to earn his first England cap against the United States at Wembley on Wednesday night.

Fabio Capello was keeping his cards close to his chest on Tuesday, although he did confirm that John Terry would captain the side for the first time since the Italian manager first took charge of the team in February. Ashton has been training hard with his international team-mates, including David Beckham after his arrival from the US, as he seeks to put the pain of two enforced previous squad withdrawals behind him. The 30-man selection is set to be cut after the midweek match with a smaller party travelling to play Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday.

When asked about who would be in his starting lineup, Capello simply said: "You have to wait." He added that he was looking forward to a stern test against the visiting US side. "I think it will be a strong game. I saw three games they played against Poland, Sweden and Mexico. They scored seven goals and only conceded two. They have good organisation, they are very fast when they attack. They are are also very good from free-kicks and corners. I think it is a very important test for us and it will be very important for us to play at a high level. The games are very important because you will know what i think about players and their positions."

Meanwhile, Ashton's club-mate Jonathan Spector has been ruled out of the game with US coach Bob Bradley confirming he has not recovered from the hip injury he suffered back in April on club duty. "At this time, he is not expected to play," he said on Tuesday afternoon. "We need to have our doctors run some further tests and make sure where he is but he will not be in the squad for the game."