John Terry insisted he would never step down as England captain after making a comfortable return to the international spotlight following allegations that he racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

Terry led England to a 1-0 friendly win over Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday in his first international appearance since the claims he abused Ferdinand during Chelsea's recent Premier League defeat at Loftus Road.

The defender was left on the bench for Saturday's 1-0 friendly win against Spain after British police and the English FA launched on-going investigations into the racism allegations.

And after calls for Terry to surrender the England armband, it could have been an uncomfortable experience for a less single-minded personality.

But he responded with a solid performance and a typically defiant defence of his reign moments after the final whistle.

"No chance, I would never step down (as England captain). It's something I dreamed of as a boy," Terry told ITV.

"When I was four or five I used to watch England games and it's a great achievement being England captain. I'm proud to lead the team out.

"As I said this week, England fans have always been great with me and the players win lose or draw. They get upset at times but they are passionate and that is what makes them the best and what drives us on.

"It's been a positive few days for us with the win over Spain and this result. A lot of players were rested from the Spain game and the young guys that came in proved they can be part of the team."

Terry, who maintains his innocence, has always prided himself on his steely determination to meet any problems in his life head on and he didn't relish being forced to sit on the sidelines or the FA's decision to gag him from talking about the issue at the pre-match press conference on Monday.

The 30-year-old is blessed with a remarkably thick skin and there was little chance he would be daunted by his return to the international spotlight.

He strode out ahead of his team-mates just before kick-off and bellowed out the national anthem with typical gusto.

Terry might have been thankful that Wembley was only just over half-full however as his name was jeered by a section of the England support when it was read out before kick-off.

A smattering of boos whenever Terry was in possession in the opening minutes quickly died out and the centre-back was able to concentrate on the threat posed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Johan Elmander.

Terry has been some way below his best for Chelsea in recent weeks and there were a couple of shaky moments in the first half as a miscued pass and then a hashed clearance went unpunished.

Fortunately for Terry, the lacklustre Ibrahimovic came off at half-time and Sweden were so lethargic that he was able to ease himself through the match under no real pressure.

There will be much sterner tests to come for Terry at Euro 2012, but for now he will be happy just to get a potentially awkward date out of the way.