While England's players trained for the first time at Portugal's Estadio Nacional Jamor yesterday John Terry was forced to watch from the sidelines, his left leg heavily bandaged.

Terry's chances of recovering from a hamstring injury in time for Sunday's game against France must now be considered minimal, despite assurances from the Football Association that he still has a fighting chance.

England will give the Chelsea defender as long as possible to prove his fitness but Terry was not walking freely as he left the pitch for a massage. He had extensive treatment last night with the England's physiotherapist Gary Lewin but even though he is short of centre halves, Sven-Goran Eriksson would be taking an uncharacteristic gamble if he were to risk aggravating Terry's injury in their first match.

"The last thing we want to do is risk John Terry when he is not fully fit," Sol Campbell said of his defensive partner. "I don't think a decision will be made until Saturday but there's no point in him playing 45 minutes and then missing the rest of the tournament because his injury has got worse."

A more realistic target for Terry is the Switzerland game tomorrow week, which means that Jamie Carragher will probably start alongside Campbell, rather than Tottenham's Ledley King, as the Liverpool man's experience makes him the preferred option even though he and Campbell have only played together for 45 minutes, the first half of Saturday's game against Iceland.

Although he is still just 24 it was natural that England's vice-captain Michael Owen should be called upon to blend statesmanship and pugnacity as he weighed up Sunday's Euro 2004 match with France. The Liverpool forward heaped compliments on the opposition while retaining self-respect.

Tributes to Thierry Henry are mandatory and Owen delivers them whole-heartedly, yet the Frenchman is a target more than an idol. The England forward, after all, is two years younger and still seeking his own pedestal in the history of the game.

"He's taken striking to a new level all round," Owen said. "He never used to score that many goals when he first came over from Italy. Now he's added almost everything to his game."

Owen appreciates that his own style will never be as telegenic as Henry's but he cannot allow himself to be frozen in admiration. "I certainly think I have qualities that he has not got," said the England striker. "He's the best striker in the world in my opinion, so that puts him ahead of me but I'm trying to chase him."

Where could Owen have the edge? There was a clue in last week's friendly with Japan when his 25th strike came on his 55th appearance for his country. It was converted when the ball bounced back off the goalkeeper and that keynote opportunism is a highly developed attribute that Henry does not possess.

Like Owen, the whole England squad has to find its own way of meeting its objectives. Without giving too many hostages to fortune, he insists on thinking that he is part of a group that need not settle for second best. Reflecting that France have kept 11 consecutive clean sheets does not discourage the striker.

"You can score against any team, especially with the quality we've got," he said.

"Our players think about how we can beat them. You talk about it and think, 'Can we get at him or him? Is he as good as he used to be?' They haven't played England yet, they haven't played against what we've got up front and in midfield that can hurt them. None of us are scared of them, although I do think they have one of the best defences in the world."

Owen's comments keep on returning to the need not to regard a very good France side as invincible.

Familiarity ought to prevent that from happening. As Sven-Goran Eriksson has pointed out, virtually every member of Jacques Santini's first XI has been or is a team-mate of someone in the England squad.

Owen has scored against most of the France defenders in some Premiership fixture or other.

Fear of the unknown is not a problem. No sooner has Owen observed that France are "better than Brazil" than he is declaring that Sol Campbell, John Terry and anyone else who might be called in if the latter is unfit "are more than capable of holding their own, if not doing even more than just stop Henry and David Trezeguet from scoring".

England need his gifts to be uncompromised by muscle weaknesses at Euro 2004. In addition to being Eriksson's best finisher, his quickness is also meant to pin back defenders so there is space for his successor as teenage prodigy, Wayne Rooney.

Owen has no doubt that the Everton forward can have a great impact. "It's very possible for him; he's full of confidence and he's got no fear," said Owen. "I think he's going to have a big tournament. When you're 18, you don't give a monkey's what's in front of you."

Guardian Service