Gerrard Rues Losing England Armband

Steven Gerrard admits he is
disappointed not to be leading
England out at Wembley,
saying being captain "has been
a terrific experience".
Gerrard will be back amongst
Fabio Capello's foot soldiers for
the Euro 2012 qualifier with
Montenegro after Rio Ferdinand
was handed the captain's
armband yesterday.
There are plenty of people who
feel Capello has made a mistake
given the mature manner with
which Gerrard handled the
responsibility, both during the
World Cup and particularly the
three games since.
The Liverpool skipper is eager
not to rock any boats and
insisted he knew he only had the
job on a temporary basis until
Ferdinand returned from his
knee injury.
But he accepts he will miss
walking out at the head of affairs
tonight.
"I am disappointed I am not
going to be leading the boys
out," Gerrard told ITV 1. "It has
been a terrific experience. I have
loved every minute.
"But I totally understood the
situation from day one the
reason why I became stand-in
captain. Now Rio is back fit he
gets the job."
However, Gerrard does
acknowledge he is producing his
most consistent performances
for his country.
One of only a couple of England
players to excel in South Africa,
Gerrard arguably kept Capello in
a job with his two goals to turn
August's friendly with Hungary
on its head.
Gerrard then handled the fall-out
from Wayne Rooney's personal
problems with commendable
grace, whilst at the same time,
guiding England to impressive
victories over Bulgaria and
Switzerland in their opening two
Group G games.
"Maybe it has been my best spell,"
admitted the 30-year-old. "The
boost you get when the manager
says you are leading the team
out and you are wearing the
armband is massive.
"It certainly helps, although I
would like to think my
performances have improved
anyway.
"I am really happy with how I
played since the manager came
in."