England v Spain: Capello Fearful of Wembley Humiliation Against World Champions

Fabio Capello has admitted he is fearful his England side could be humiliated in their meeting with Spain, as they prepare for Saturday's match against the world champions "without any players".

England's preparations for next summer's Euro 2012 finals begins this weekend against Spain and the following Tuesday with the visit of Sweden, but Capello will be without a number of key personnel as he looks experiment with his squad.

The England manager is without injured trio Ashley Young, Jack Wilshire and Steven Gerrard; while Wayne Rooney and John Terry are also absent.

"We're playing Spain without any players! We're missing Rooney, Gerrard, Terry. We will do the best we can," Capello told Spanish newspaper Marca.

"Playing Spain at Wembley is a tough test. I'm going to give a run out to new and young players to see their potential.

"We're going to be under lots of pressure from our fans. Spain are the best team in the world. It's an important friendly."

Rooney is not expected to feature in any of England's friendly fixtures because, subject to his appeal to UEFA, he will miss the opening three matches at the start of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine following his dismissal against Montenegro in October.

Capello has said he will not consider Terry against Spain because he wants to test other players in the centre of defence and not because of the ongoing police investigation over alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand.

However, Phil Jagielka is expected to withdraw from the 24-man squad ahead of Saturday's match with a broken toe, leaving Capello with the untried partnership of Gary Cahill and Joleon Lescott. Should the England manager opt to play Phil Jones in central midfield, and the police conclude their inquiries into Terry, the Chelsea captain could start.

Capello has promised to use this month's friendlies to give some experience to younger players. Eleven members of the squad have six caps or fewer, with four players set to make their debuts. But the England manager remains wary of the threat posed by world champions Spain, especially against an untested side; he will not want to be humiliated.

"Everyone is talking about the Spanish style, the Barca style to be specific," added Capello.
"It's a style that only those players can do. It's not a passing style that bores you because at any moment they can create something that kills the game for you.

"Everyone says, we're going to try and play in this style. But you have to play in the way of the players you have got. It is the most spectacular team in world football."

Capello highlighted the twin threat of Xavi and Andres Iniesta but also singled out two other Barcelona players - David Villa and Cesc Fabregas - for special praise.

"I'm worried about how we deal with Cesc," Capello said. "They are all great quality. For example, you have Cesc Fabregas, who can move like fish in water between the lines. He's a player who is scoring goals in all matches.

"Also David Villa, who scores goals but also runs, presses, helps at the back. He has improved a lot since joining Barcelona."