It ought to be the proudest moment of his career, captain of England at a packed Wembley Stadium, but somehow it was hard to banish the feeling that Gareth Barry was the winner of a cheap consolation prize.

Three days ago, Barry did not even make the substitutes' bench in Cardiff and, now, with six players released from the squad and two senior figures already out injured, he has the honour of leading out a reserve team.

Sinking feeling: Barry (left) is now captain of the cast-offs but his injury before the World Cup was big news

Fabio Capello, suddenly well versed in the art of delivering a new leader to his squad before training, gathered the group at Wembley and explained that the 30-year-old Manchester City midfielder would be the man pulling on the armband for tonight's friendly against Ghana.

Barry will be the seventh different captain of Capello's tenure, the fifth this season and the fourth in as many games.

'It was a surprise,' said Barry. 'To find myself not involved at the weekend and then, a few days later, to be told I'm going to lead the team out at Wembley sums up how quickly it can change. Saturday was disappointing for me but you try to keep your head and this i s great news.

'The manager pulled me in before training, on my own, and said he wanted me to be the captain. He wanted to see if I'd be comfortable with it. I'm not shy about doing it. I had three great years leading the team at Aston Villa.

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