Exclusive - Friedel backs Parker to be next England captain

Brad Friedel believes England have a 'ready-made captain' in his Tottenham team-mate Scott Parker.

Joe Hart has been tipped to take over from John Terry as Fabio Capello’s on-pitch leader but Friedel reckons it should be a straight choice between Parker and Steven Gerrard.

"Joe Hart has the mentality to be a captain but you’ve also got with England two ready-made captains in Steven Gerrard and Scotty Parker," the Spurs stopper told the Sports Breakfast show.

"Could Joe do the job, absolutely. Joe is a magnificent goalkeeper with a great head on his shoulders, but you have got Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard that are tremendous players.

"Playing with Scotty for the last six months or so you can see, whether he has the captain's armband or not, he is going to be a captain.

"He is a top pro around the club, he lives his life right, and on the pitch he covers in front of the back four the best that I have played with.

"When the right or left back go forward he is always looking at the gaps that he can cover and the amount of metres he covers in games are immense."

Parker was part of an impressive defensive performance from Tottenham as they held Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield on Monday night.

And Friedel added: “You always want to get a good start at Anfield, especially defensively, and I thought between Scotty, Ledley and Daws they did ever so well doing that and in the end Liverpool found it difficult to break us down."