Fabio Capello is crossing his fingers that two English teams reach the Champions League final again this season.

With five wins on the trot already, England will move to the brink of claiming a place at the World Cup in South Africa next year if they collect maximum points from a June double-header against the Kazakhs and Andorra.

Yet Capello is acutely aware his planning could be hampered by a combination of injury and the fixture list.

While some absentees can be anticipated given the timing of the fixtures, with clubs wanting players to either rest or have much-needed operations so they are back again for the new campaign, others may be physically drained.

Players from Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, plus Arsenal's Theo Walcott, are all at risk of joining up on the back of a draining week that starts with the last round of Premier League fixtures and also includes the Champions League and FA Cup finals.

It is not an ideal scenario for Capello, whose side maintained their 100% record in Group 6 by beating Ukraine last night to record a fifth successive qualifying win.

However, he is unequivocal about the fact he wants a repeat of last season's all-English showdown when Europe's greatest club prize is handed out in Rome on May 27.

"I hope the Champions League final will be between two English teams," Capello said.

"Afterwards I hope the best players will be with me for the preparation for these two games.

"At this moment I do not know which players will play. I will wait for the Champions League final and then select the best ones who are fit."

Given the diligent manner in which Capello approaches his job, he will have a strategy in place long before then.

Marrying a squad together that includes players fatigued by a gruelling week battling for honours and others relatively refreshed by a week off will not be easy.

It is a dilemma Capello tried to avoid when the fixtures were thrashed out at a meeting in Zagreb just after his appointment to succeed Steve McClaren. So far, it is just about the only area in which he has met with failure.

"FIFA decided the dates we could play, which created a problem for us," said the Italian.

"It was impossible to play Kazakhstan before then because of the snow and when we were arranging the fixtures we asked Andorra if we could play them during February but they refused."

The idea of little Andorra causing Capello more headaches than the rest of England's group has managed so far is quite amusing.

It is not that fixture he will be bothered about though. The 12-hour flight to Almaty is another matter entirely, taking England to the border with China.

Yet it is fair to assume John Terry will be leading the way.

Indeed, it is easy to imagine Terry being wheeled out, dismissing the pain of two broken legs or another such imaginary mishap, such is his dedication to the England cause.

There were plenty of quizzical looks before last August's friendly with the Czech Republic when Terry, rather than Rio Ferdinand, was unveiled as Capello's preferred on-pitch leader.

Although the Chelsea captain had been doing the job for McClaren, it was felt Ferdinand's smoother style would be more to Capello's taste and that as the Manchester United defender is more natural and engaging with the media, the all-round package was better.

Even Terry expected his central defensive partner to get the job.

But after a four-match round of auditions, when Terry admirably bounced back from the misery of a penalty shoot-out nightmare in Moscow that had left him broken and in tears to lead England to victory against the United States, Capello confirmed the 28-year-old had kept the captain's armband.

Capello has never had cause to regret the move.

And, as Terry stabbed home the goal which maintained England's 100% record in qualifying and allowed their fans, if not the players, to start making plans for South Africa 2010, the Italian knew he had got it right.

"The captain sets an example," said Capello.

"At every moment he has to drive the team.

"He is the one who is really important in the dressing room and also during the game. He must have a big personality and a strong character."

Time has moved on and attitudes have changed since Terry Butcher used to go around headbutting dressing-room walls to get himself wound up for battle.

But Terry's mental strength is up there with Butcher's own fortitude. After all, he demanded to face the press rather than hide himself away last Friday when he woke to embarrassing newspaper headlines about his mother and mother-in-law.

"I suppose you could say John is a very English defender," said Capello.

"But, like Rio, for a centre-back he is very good technically as well.

"He is strong with the head and in the tackle. But he is also very good with the ball at his feet."