John Terry successfully came through a training session before tomorrow's Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia in Moscow. The England captain was on the flight from Manchester having lasted out 60 minutes' training on an artificial pitch in Altrincham and will have a further assessment today.

Having missed the 3-0 victory over Estonia at the weekend with a knee injury, the serious doubts about the Chelsea defender's chances of featuring in the crucial qualifying match receded as Terry played a full part in a session that lasted just over an hour at the Blessed Thomas Holford RC School in Altrincham.

An apparent first team included Terry alongside Rio Ferdinand with Joleon Lescott at left-back in a four-man defence, though Nicky Shorey and Phil Neville are also candidates to replace Ashley Cole at left back. Cole had a scan yesterday and the damage to his ankle is not believed to be serious and he should return to action in early November.

There was no sign of Sol Campbell, who deputised for Terry at centre back at the weekend and needs regular rest between matches for his club, Portsmouth.

Intriguingly, the England manager, Steve McClaren, fielded the four-man midfield that started the game against Estonia, with Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right, Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry in the middle and Joe Cole on the left. Frank Lampard, who came on to make a midfield three against Estonia, trained with the second string.

The midfielder suffered a barrage of boos from a section of the England support in Saturday's match after he was brought on as a second-half substitute, but the criticism is unlikely to have influenced McClaren's selection considerations.

The partnership of Gerrard and Barry has impressed Russia's coach, Guus Hiddink. "The combination of Gerrard and Barry is very good to watch," he said. "It may not be the star-studded midfield of Gerrard and Lampard, but it is very effective and helps the team."

Hiddink watched England's win over Estonia on television and admitted he "didn't see anything new". He continued: "We know England and we know how they play. We need to pay attention to their leading players, particularly the strikers Owen and Rooney."

He said that although Russia had to be realistic about the fact that England are "a level higher" it did not mean that his players "shouldn't battle". The Dutchman added that they must "also concentrate on themselves and their own game and not think too much about the opposition".

Hiddink denied that Russia would have any "real advantage" from playing on the plastic pitch. "The English team are preparing for the game on an artificial pitch and therefore there will be no real advantage for us," he said.

Meanwhile, he has had to call up the uncapped Roman Shirokov as cover for the midfielder Ivan Saenko, who has been ruled out with a leg injury.

•Damien Duff is unlikely to play for at least two months while he recovers from severely injuring his ankle ligaments in April. "The injury was a career-threatening one," said Sam Allardyce, Newcastle's manager.

"We hope that Damien will be able to join in group training this month, but in terms of competitive football it might not be until the end of the year."