Doubts over the Wigan Athletic forward's availability for tomorrow's clash with Kazakhstan were raised on Wednesday, when he sat out training with a back injury.

However, he came through yesterday's session unscathed and is expected to take his place alongside Wayne Rooney in Fabio Capello's team.

David James is expected to continue in the number- one jersey while Glen Johnson could be set for an unexpected start.

With skipper John Terry almost certain to miss the World Cup qualifier, Capello needs to find a partner for Rio Ferdinand in the heart of the defence.

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And if the Italian boss plumps for Wes Brown to link up with his Manchester United team-mate – ahead of Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott – Johnson could snap up the vacant berth at right-back.

Officially, however, Terry is only a doubt for the group six encounter.

But the FA confirmed Terry's back complaint prevented him from training again yesterday and under such circumstances, it is difficult to see how Capello could consider him for selection.

Throughout his short time in charge, Capello has continually stressed the need for players to be fully fit in order to be considered.

And the Italian is unlikely to bend those rules now, even though Terry has repeatedly defied medical opinion by putting his body on the line in the cause of duty for club and country.

In any case, it would be an odd decision to put Terry at risk by playing him against Kazakhstan, when a far more challenging test lies ahead in Belarus next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Heskey has echoed Ferdinand's call for FIFA to do more to tackle racist abuse among fans.

FIFA handed out a £15,000 fine to the Croatian Football Federation after fans targeted Heskey with monkey chants during England's 4-1 win in Zagreb.

That led to Ferdinand accusing Fifa of 'not backing up their words with actions', and Heskey added: 'Everybody knows that (the fine) is not adequate.

'I respect Fifa but if it happens again they'll have to do something else.'

The Wigan forward admitted he experienced similar treatment in an England shirt when the Three Lions played Slovakia in Bratislava.

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