Everton defender Phil Jagielka wants to be the leader of the England defence now that Ferdinand and the old captain are not there anymore.
Jags has played in two out of the three World Cup qualifiers and that coupled with the fact that he has a ready made paternship with ex Everton player Joleon Lescott, should make the 30 year old favourite to start for England in Poland tomorrow.
Jags said: "You'll have to see who takes the mantle of leading the back four, I'll chuck my name in the hat.
"There's a day between our birthdays, so we are pretty much the same age and it just works - the communication, the way we play and left-foot, right-foot helps as well.
"Obviously Joleon had a fantastic move to Manchester City so I've not played with him as much but it's just one of those things. You get to play with someone and it clicks.
"John's decided to retire now and there's a few of us competing for the two spots available.
"You've got Gary Cahill, who had a great game against San Marino going forward, and Joleon Lescott, who had a fantastic Euros, plus the other lads coming into the squad like Ryan Shawcross. It's going to keep us on our toes.
"John and Rio played together for England forever didn't they? They had a great partnership and there were a couple of others behind them waiting for a game. So you are down a long list of players trying to get your chance but time passes and people have good form, bad form and you get your opportunities.
"I've been around the squad for the last couple of years or so, played a game here and there and I'd like to play on a more consistent basis. But if the boss said 'come here and play every other game' I'd take that as well."
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