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With John Terry now retired from international football, his impressive performance in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Arsenal at the weekend was a perfect illustration of what England will miss in his absence. And if England boss Roy Hodgson was considering bringing Rio Ferdinand back into the set-up, the Manchester United defender’s struggles in the 3-2 defeat by Tottenham could well have ended that notion. But who will replace Terry? The Life’s a Pitch team take a look.

Despite Ferdinand’s waning powers and Hodgson’s reluctance to select him so far, the People’s Tom Hopkinson still believes the stylish United stopper is the best-placed replacement for Terry. “A fit Rio Ferdinand is as good a central defender [as you'll find] in the country. Obviously he moves back up the pecking order now Terry is no longer available.”

Finding someone to replace Terry the player is one thing, says Tom’s colleague at the People, Janine Self. Finding someone to replace the Chelsea captain’s character is something altogether different.

“The replacement of the player: well, Gary Cahill can step up to the plate and I like Phil Jagielka. Joleon Lescott’s gone off the boil a bit this season, but, again, a very good player. They will take you through this World Cup qualifying campaign,” she says, adding in the names of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. “But who do you replace as the character? John Terry has lots and lots of [off-field] deficiencies, but there is no doubting he was a major, major presence in that dressing room. England will miss that.”

Watch the full video discussion by clicking on the play button in the image above. Please note the video was recorded before Terry was found guilty by the FA of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

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Watch Chelsea and England live on BT Vision:
FC Nordsjaelland v Chelsea, 7pm, 2 October, Sky Sports 2
England v San Marino, 7.30pm, 12 October, ITV1

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