The penalties followed and after that came the series of press conferences, with Joe Hart presented to the media with the insistence that this did not necessarily mean he was skipper.

According to sources on Tuesday night, Gerrard will probably get the nod with Hart taking on the role in the second half.

Gerrard has to play and he has to be captain. Not only is he England’s most influential player. He has been unavailable for international duty for more than a year because of injury and he needs to reacquaint himself with some and introduce himself to others in this rapidly changing squad. For a start he has not yet joined Scott Parker in midfield.

On Tuesday Pearce did acknowledge Gerrard’s importance. ‘As a role model he is as good as it is going to get in this nation,’ he said.

Hart, meanwhile, said he was happy just to have a goalkeeping coach, in Ray Clemence, who addressed him by his correct Christian name.

At the 2010 World Cup Franco Tancredi was forever calling him ‘John’. ‘It makes a nice change,’ said Hart, a little red-faced.

Nobody’s face was a darker shade of red, however, than that of Pearce. If he seemed relatively calm last week, he appeared rather more intense with kick-off little more than 24 hours away. There was more of an edge to this most  passionate of patriots, his mood familiar to those who have followed him at Under 21 tournaments.

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