WES Brown is convinced Rio Ferdinand would have made an ideal England captain.

Fabio Capello this week handed John Terry the armband for the World Cup qualifying campaign, despite many expecting Ferdinand to get the nod.

And Brown, who has seen his clubmate develop into one of the most influential figures at United, believes England boss Capello could not have asked for a better skipper.

"I play alongside him every week so he would have been my choice," said Brown. "But then the Chelsea players would have said exactly the same about John Terry.

"He has been a great captain for us and hopefully he can take us all the way to the World Cup finals in two years time."

Brown has backed Ferdinand to shake off the disappointment of missing out to Terry and go on to confirm Sir Alex Ferguson's contention that he is the best defender in the world.

"Rio will be fine," he said. "He knew he had a good chance of being captain and then the gaffer picked John Terry so we all just get on with it now.

"Rio has got a great attitude, is a great footballer and I am sure he will take it in his stride and continue to do well for his country and United."

Brown has been one of the few players to flourish under Capello and got his first goal for England during Wednesday's unimpressive 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic.

He concedes that there will need to be a vast improvement if England are to qualify for the World Cup in 2010.

"I think we will have to play significantly better if we are to beat Croatia out there," he said. "We know we can do that.

"The lads are getting to know each other a lot more. We know what the gaffer wants and are trying to bring that into the game."

"As for myself I know it is going to be difficult to stay in the first team. For 10 years I've been in and out so I just try and battle away and keep on going."

MANCHESTER United chief executive David Gill is understood to have distanced himself from reports linking him as a potential successor to Brian Barwick as chief executuve of the FA.