John Terry believes that battling through the lowest point of his career will make him a better and stronger England captain.

The Chelsea defender will lead Fabio Capello's side against the Czech Republic at Wembley tonight having beaten off the challenge of Rio Ferdinand for the skipper's armband.

And ahead of the friendly he paid tribute to his family, the "thousands" of Chelsea fans who wrote to him after his night of despair in the Champions League Final last May and the club who helped him through the bad times.

The defender also revealed that in the wake of his penalty miss in Moscow, he was suffering from nerves before the opening match of the season, against Portsmouth on Sunday.

"The aftermath of that night in Moscow was the low point of my career," he admitted.

"It was the lowest I'll ever want to be in football and hopefully I won't go there again.

"When you've been there, right at the very bottom, the only way to look is up but that experience, as bad as it was, has made me stronger.

"In a way I was relieved there was a game with England just afterwards because that gave me a focus. The manager gave me a big boost by giving me the armband against the United States and the performance that night was good. I managed to score which rounded it off for me. It was a big relief."

Terry also believes his brother, Paul, wife Toni and twins Georgie John and Summer Rose, also played a big part on his recovery.

"I had chats with Paul while my wife and children helped me through it as well," he said.

"My team-mates were also important to me at that time, as were the Chelsea fans. I've had thousands of letters from them.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank them for their support.

"I was quite nervous before Sunday's opening game against Portsmouth because I still felt I had let them down."

England start their World Cup qualifying campaign against Andorra in a fortnight and face Croatia four days later.