John Terry's international exile looks set to end this weekend when England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson names his squad for the back-to-back Euro 2004 Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Turkey.
The 22-year-old Chelsea centre-back lost a year of his international career while involved in a court case 14 months ago.
He was cleared of all charges in an affray case but missed out on England selection for the European Under-21 Championships in Switzerland for which he would normally have been a certainty.
He suffered similarly to former Leeds United pair Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate - now at West Ham and Newcastle respectively - when they were involved in a court case.
And at the start of the season Terry also found himself out in the cold at Chelsea as French pair Marcel Desailly and William Gallas struck up a fine understanding at the heart of the Blues rearguard.
Since France captain Desailly picked up a series of injuries Terry has come into the side and performed impressively - so much so that Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri handed him the skipper's armband.
Eriksson said: "John is playing very well and it is a very great boost for him to be made captain as well at Chelsea."
Terry could even make the starting line-up for at least one of the England matches, with big fitness doubts over Arsenal's Sol Campbell and Manchester United's Wes Brown.
