Carragher and King fight for England start
King and Carragher are in contention to partner Sol Campbell on Sunday if Terry fails to come through a fitness test tomorrow.
The Chelsea defender is a key part of England's plans, especially in the absence of Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Southgate and Jonathan Woodgate, but he has been plagued by a hamstring injury for a week.
A Football Association spokesman yesterday revealed: "John Terry is progressing. He has done lots of dynamic work and pitch work today.
"However, no decision will be taken on whether he trains with the rest of the squad tomorrow until the morning."
With coach Sven-Goran Eriksson having already set Terry a deadline of today tomorrow to prove his fitness, time is fast running out.
Carragher started alongside Campbell against Iceland in the final warm-up game in Terry's absence, but King has impressed this week and partnered his former Spurs team-mate in training.
Eriksson, therefore, faces a major decision, especially with both contenders never having played in a major tournament before and being played out of central defence for much of this season.
King is nevertheless insistent that he would not let his country down if called upon to face Henry, David Trezeguet and Zinedine Zidane.
He explained: "It's only really hit home, now that I'm in the squad, how big this tournament is to everyone.
"But it just gees the players up even more. We don't want to let anyone down, we just want to go for it.
"I don't see why we can't handle that pressure. I've handled it all my life so far and, although it's a massive game, I'm ready."
King, 23, only made his full England debut less than four months ago in a friendly in Portugal. He scored then and forced his way into Eriksson's plans.
He maintained: "Obviously we're not sure about John yet and there's Jamie Carragher as well, but if I do get the opportunity, I'll be ready and I won't let anyone down.
"Sometimes you do have to pinch yourself as you look around and see you could be in the team with these players and could be going into the biggest game in your life.
"But I thrive on my nerves before a game. They help me to produce my best stuff, even if they'll probably be 10 times worse before this match. I've played against Thierry before and he's a great player but I just have to see it as another game.
"If I'm picked, I have to relax and do the job I'm capable of."
Out of necessity, King was used in central midfield for much of this season at Tottenham, but his international chances still did not suffer as a result.
He continued: "The last few games of the season, I played at the back for Spurs quite well and that helped me. I've always seen myself as a defender."
Carragher, 26, has more experience on his side, having played in the Champions League and UEFA Cup on a regular basis, although he has, more often than not, been used at full-back for Liverpool.
Meanwhile Phil Neville has appealed for David Beckham and the rest of the England squad to be left in privacy at their team hotel to prepare for the Euro 2004 finals.
Beckham was photographed on his hotel balcony, wearing only his underwear, while Neville his former Manchester United team-mate was also pictured in his shorts. Although there are strict security measures around the Solplay Hotel in Lisbon, neighbouring apartment blocks still overlook the site.
Neville declared: "I've not spoken to David about it really. The way that football is going now with the high-profile players, it's something that you probably can't do anything about.
"We've got tight security at our hotel and we're very private but people are still getting pictures so it's something that we've just got to get on with really."





