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Barry to captain England against Ghana

Gareth Barry will wear the captain's armband again against Ghana © Getty Images

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Gareth Barry has been confirmed as England captain for the international friendly against Ghana at Wembley on Tuesday.

Barry will take the armband after Three Lions head coach Fabio Capello released new permanent captain John Terry and five other players back to their clubs following their involvement in the 2-0 Euro 2012 qualification victory over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

The Manchester City midfielder was not even named in the 18-man squad for the game at the Millennium Stadium, but will lead the side out at Wembley due to his greater international experience.

"Barry will be captain," Capello said. "He's a really good player, a really good captain - and also he is the player with the most caps."

The Italian confirmed that Joe Hart will continue in goal, while Scott Parker could retain his place in midfield if he overcomes some niggling injury concerns. Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka will forge an unfamiliar partnership in the centre of defence, with Leighton Baines replacing Ashley Cole at left-back and Andy Carroll to be given another start up front.

Capello acknowledged that fans might feel aggrieved at paying high ticket prices to see a weakened team, but believes the rotation is important as the squad prepare for the 2012 European Championships.

"I respect the fans, but it will be good for the fans because they will see some players they don't know very well," he said. "It will be interesting for me and for the fans because the players we play are really good players and it's really very important for them to understand the spirit of the team. I hope tomorrow we can show on the pitch [a performance] like the first 30 minutes against Wales.

"Ghana is a really important team [to play], because the quality of Ghana is really, really high."

Eager to preserve a favourable relationship with Premier League clubs, Capello insists it was in everyone's best interests to allow those players involved in Champions League action next week to miss the friendly.

"The players that went home are not here because I preserve players for the clubs because at this moment if you are tired it is easy to be injured," he said. "For this reason I decided to release these players to their clubs."

However, Capello confirmed he will support Stuart Pearce "100%" if he wants to name Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll in his squad for the summer's Under-21 European Championships in Denmark.

After Steven Gerrard revealed on Sunday that Capello rang him to tell him of his decision to make John Terry the new permanent England captain, he explained why he had not done the same with Rio Ferdinand.

"Steve is vice-captain. Rio is captain, so we must speak personally," he said. "I hope I will speak with Rio next week."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.