Blackpool star warns England players to take care on Wembley surface

England's players have been warned that the Wembley pitch could wreck their hopes of appearing at the World Cup finals after Gary Taylor-Fletcher, a scorer for Blackpool in yesterday's play-off final, blamed the turf for the ankle injury which saw him depart the stadium on crutches.

Fabio Capello's side will play Mexico on the same surface tomorrow night with their new captain, Rio Ferdinand, echoing his predecessor John Terry's calls for Wembley to be used solely for football matches. Taylor-Fletcher believes England's players will have to be careful this evening after twice going over on his ankle during his side's 3-2 victory over Cardiff with the midfielder unable to continue after twisting the joint for a second time after half-time.

Terry claimed that the pitch, the 11th laid since the £750m rebuilt stadium opened three years ago, was "the worst we have played on all year" and had "ruined" the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Portsmouth the previous weekend. "The England players have got to be careful," said Taylor-Fletcher. "There is a big World Cup coming up for them all. One slip and it could all be over for them. I have worn three pairs of boots on Saturday and in all of them I was either slipping over or getting caught [in the turf]..... read more