England should recall Chelsea captain John Terry says Fabio Capello

Chelsea captain John Terry should be reconsidered for selection by England, according to ex-national team boss Fabio Capello.

Terry was unceremoniously dumped as skipper prior to the 2012 European Championships after being charged with a racially aggravated assault against Anton Ferdinand, for which he was later cleared after a lengthy summer court case.

Having missed the summer finals, the Chelsea defender retired from international duty and cited the "untenable" position he had been put in by the Football Association, who had chosen to reprimand him before his case was heard.

Despite escaping action in court, the 34-year-old was later banned for four matches for the offence and manager Roy Hodgson has not considered Terry for selection despite his back-four being largely unsettled during his spell in charge.

And Capello, who resigned just four months before Euro 2012 after clashing with the FA over the incident, said: "He is one of the best. [England] haven't got a lot of defenders but they sometimes have problems. It's better to have a player like John Terry than not have him. But I don't think he has the chances to play with the national team any more."

The Italian coach, who managed England from 2007 to 2012, added on the decision to punish the Chelsea centre-back before the court case: "[The FA] decided he could not play with the national team and I didn't understand because he was not guilty.

"When it happened I said [to then FA chairman David Bernstein]: 'You decided he's guilty? No, he's not guilty.' I fought for this and they said: 'No, you can't decide about the player, you need to wait for the court decision and everything.' I said: 'Why have you decided before I've asked you?'"

While Terry's international career may have been prematurely halted, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has benefited from the defender's reduced workload but, speaking in 2013, the Portuguese boss admitted he was surprised Terry had called time on his England tenure.

"If I was a football player I would wait for the national team to say we don't need you any more," said Mourinho. "That is just my personal feeling. For sure he has reasons that push him for that decision.

"He is recovering his self-esteem, recovering the feeling of being an important player for the team which he lost. The reasons that pushed him to international retirement are out of my control."