Once Terry has led England against Sweden at Wembley, only David Beckham, Bryan Robson and joint record holders Bobby Moore and Billy Wright will have captained their country on more occasions.

It is quite possible Terry will not reach Beckham's figure of 59, let alone that of Moore and Wright, who had the honour an incredible 90 times.

However, the Chelsea man is one of the best in this generation and rightly deserves comparison with men such as Roy Keane and Tony Adams in terms of pure leadership quality.

Adams was one of the players he admired as a kid growing up in Barking, but Wise and Desailly were observed at much closer quarters.

"When I used to watch England, Adams and Robson were the ones who really got me," Terry said. "The ones I've been fortunate to play with were Wisey and Marcel.

"They were two big characters, Wisey more so on the pitch and Marcel how he dealt with things in the dressing room.

"He (Wise) never took any rubbish, basically, and made sure everyone was on it."

A fiery character, Wise was no stranger to on and off-field scrapes.

His reaction to those situations has helped Terry through various problems in his career, including the racism controversy he is presently at the centre of.

"Wisey had little bits throughout his career, but regardless of whatever happened, on the training pitch he was always the best," Terry added.

"He was always at the front of the running, making sure he pulled people up with him, getting people alongside him from the middle of the pack.

"Seeing that as a young boy growing up was really good."

Terry shows similar leadership qualities himself, although it is hard to see him attracting the same kind of affection as Moore and Beckham in particular.

"I'm not too sure," he said. "But regardless what people think, no-one can ever take away what I've done in my career.

"Maybe you can't appreciate that until you finish, step back and think about it.

"Looking back I would be able to say, 'You know what, I did really well'."