McClaren rocked as Terry pulls out

THREE hours after delivering a Churchillian battle speech, England coach Steve McClaren was forced into a damage limitation exercise after skipper John Terry was all but ruled out of tonight’s crucial European Championship qualifier with Russia.

But the words, delivered in the shadow of Red Square and the Kremlin — where so many intriguing plots have been played out over the years — were undermined almost immediately as news of Terry’s injury filtered out.

“John Terry is almost certainly ruled out of [tonight’s] match,” said McClaren in a statement issued from the Luzhniki Stadium.