England 'circus' before Capello

STAND-IN captain Rio Ferdinand is confident England are back on track under Fabio Capello after a "circus" era where players were more interested in WAGs than winning.

Ferdinand, who will wear the armband in Belarus tonight in the World Cup Group 6 qualifier, says before the arrival of Capello, the England camp had lost focus.

He pointed to the celebrity culture that peaked during the 2006 World Cup finals when the squad were accompanied by their wives and girlfriends (WAGs).

"We became a bit of a circus, if I'm honest, in terms of the whole WAG situation," Ferdinand said. "I don't want to speak too soon, but you can see we're at the start of something and, hopefully, there'll be bigger rewards than in the past."