Rio Ferdinand will miss England's opening World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday.

The Manchester United defender has a back injury but manager Fabio Capello expects him to be fit for the key game against Croatia on Wednesday night.

Joleon Lescott, Wes Brown or Matthew Upson will likely step in to partner skipper John Terry in central defence.

Chelsea midfielders Frank Lampard and Joe Cole are both likely to shake off minor knocks.

In the absence of injured midfielders Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves, Fulham's Jimmy Bullard is pushing to make his international debut at the Olympic Stadium against the Group Six minnows in Barcelona on Saturday, Capello's first competitive game as manager.

However, Gareth Barry seems more likely to play alongside Lampard.

Some newspaper reports on Friday claimed Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott could make a surprise start with David Beckham being saved for the match against Croatia on Wednesday.

Andorra go into the match seeking damage limitation after suffering a miserable Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in which they lost all 12 of their games, scoring two goals and conceding 42.

Coach David Rodrigo, who has been in his post since 1999, had a bad start to his campaign in Kazakhstan two weeks ago, when they lost 3-0 in Almaty, conceding three first-half goals.