Capello wants to unleash Rooney and Carroll on Wales

London: Fabio Capello wants to unleash the £65 million (Dh389.15 million) partnership of Wayne Rooney and Andy Carroll on Wales on Saturday.

The England manager sent his trusted assistant Franco Baldini to watch Carroll in action for Liverpool against Sunderland on Sunday and is certainly satisfied that the former Newcastle centre forward is fit enough to play a part.

He will now spend the next few days assessing whether Carroll has the match sharpness to figure from the start in the Euro 2012 qualifier in Cardiff, with Aston Villa's Darren Bent in the wings as a Plan B.

Carroll arrived at Liverpool in January for £35 million, making him the most expensive English player in football history, but he did so with a thigh injury that kept him on the sidelines until the beginning of this month.

He has now made four appearances for his club, two as a substitute. He managed to play 71 minutes as partner to Luis Suarez at the Stadium of Light and did enough to leave Kenny Dalglish relishing the opportunity to build a team around the new Anfield pairing.

Excitement

Capello has expressed his excitement at seeing Rooney and Carroll developing an understanding, and the £35 million Geordie impressed the Italian on his international debut against France in November.

The key is how Carroll looks in training. The players reported to England's team hotel in Hertfordshire last night and they will train at Arsenal's London Colney before flying to Cardiff on Friday morning. By then Capello will know if he can risk the 22-year-old in a crucial European Championship qualifier.

But the manager hopes he will show his ability to join £30 million Rooney in attack and deliver a performance that will eclipse the furore surrounding the reinstatement of John Terry as captain.

Liverpool and England defender Glen Johnson, who played under Terry at Chelsea, said: "John Terry has been a fantastic captain for Chelsea and England. I am sure he will carry on doing the same job. Obviously Rio will be upset to lose the armband. But he is a big man and he will pick himself up and get on with it."

"I don't think it will be a divisive issue. Everyone is a professional and will go about their job in the right way. I am sure everyone will be fine."

Moving on to the game itself — and the prospect of facing Tottenham star Gareth Bale — Johnson said: "Bale is the main danger. He is a fantastic player who has been doing really well this season. But we have good players too."