Grant defends skipper Terry

The Chelsea defender has come under fire after mistakes for both club and country in recent weeks, but Grant insists that Terry was one of his star performers in last Sunday's 2-1 Barclays Premier League victory over title rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

"Against Arsenal he was one of our best players," declared Grant. "Emmanuel Adebayor didn't create even one chance against him."

He added: "Sometimes mistakes happen. I didn't see the England game (against France), but again I was a national coach. I have a problem with these friendly games. They're not for judging results, but other things. In the last match, I was very happy with John Terry."

New England coach Fabio Capello handed the captaincy to Rio Ferdinand for the friendly against the French but Grant believes there is still time for Terry to prove to the Italian that he is the man who should wear the armband on a permanent basis.

Grant added: "He's a mature guy. He wants to be captain, but he understands the decision of the manager and respects it.

"There is a lot of time before the (World Cup) qualification game. I understand Fabio's decision, what he is doing. For me, John Terry should be captain. But he's the manager. You need to respect that decision.

"I think he's a great leader, but I don't make the decision. I cannot say I was surprised. I cannot say I was surprised because Capello said he would test some things and he hasn't nominated a player. At the end of the day, England will have the right captain for them.

"In football, even if you've proved yourself in the past as a captain, you always need to prove yourself again and again.

"It doesn't matter about the captaincy. Sometimes people say you're only as good as your last game, I don't believe that, but you do need to keep proving yourself."