Will England miss Rio Ferdinand?

With Rio Ferdinand set to miss the 2010 World Cup, we ask will England miss him?

I don't think so is the answer. For me Rio's injury could be a blessing in disguise.

At times when I watched the England game with Mexico, Rio looked as stiff as a board and like he was treading water.

He didn't look anywhere near fit, and at top level football he would have been found out eventually.

He only just managed double figures with Premier League appearances for Man Utd last season, due to a back problem that at the moment looks like it isn't going to go away.

Ferguson certainly won't be sad to see Rio miss World Cup with England

Maybe a summer of total rest is what it needed? I don't think Alex Ferguson would disagree.

Ledley King will be an able replacement in my opinion, he may well have had a dodgy half hour against Mexico, but I wouldn't read anything into that as King is a top class performer.

Then we have Jamie Carragher, who ironically hasn't had his best season for Liverpool, but I'm sure he will be up to the job if called upon.

The only way I can see this hampering England is if they have a major injury crisis. I don't fancy Matthew Upson in a potential quarter or semi-final against the likes of Spain, Holland or Brazil.

And while Michael Dawson is in great form, he lacks experience at this level. Although like Carragher, I'm sure Dawson would let no one down.

King and Terry will need to get up to speed as a partnership fairly quickly. The group stages should give them the opportunity to do this.

Hopefully Ledley's knee will be up to the three games to give them the chance to mould.

It appears that Capello is happy to let King work on his own individual training programme like he does at Spurs. So he must have plenty of faith in him.

Ledley has already said he thinks he will be ok to play all the games, so we can only take his word for it.

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