Fabio Capello looked ahead to World Cup D-day declaring: "I am not crazy. We can reach the final."

Capello's pre-tournament assertion that England were capable of competing for the biggest prize in the game at Soccer City on July 11 has looked a little hollow over the past fortnight.

After starting with a mixed performance against the United States, England's Group C campaign took a total wrong turning against Algeria in Cape Town last Friday.

A virtually unanimous assessment of that tepid goalless draw was that it was one of the worst England performances in living memory.

The result sends the Three Lions into their final encounter with Slovenia with their backs firmly pressed against the wall, knowing anything other than victory, against determined opponents who only require a draw, will almost certainly consign them to an early flight home and public ridicule.

Yet Capello, who was anxious to put a turbulent few days behind him and forget all about the John Terry-led rebellion, which he slapped down so brutally last night, retains faith in his players.

While he accepts their performances in South Africa have been nowhere near the level that got them to the tournament in a highly impressive qualifying campaign, the Italian is keeping the faith.

"I am not crazy," he said.

"When I said my target is the final of the World Cup it was because we showed this is a really good squad.

"I think if... no, not if, when we win tomorrow then all the teams have to fight against us."

The rallying cry may have been delivered in faltering English but the resonance was the same as Terry managed with his own, ultimately ill-advised, passionate speech on Sunday.

Capello will only truly find out tomorrow afternoon whether his own assertion of authority over the man he once called captain has any lingering effect.

There was no fuel being poured on the fire tonight.

Capello is a clear thinker if nothing else. Last night, action needed to be taken. Now it has to be forgotten.

"He is one of the most important players and no, I did not think about dropping him," said Capello.

"This is a really important game for us, everything else has gone out of the minds of the players. Speak about the game, not John Terry."

Nevertheless, Capello, when pressed, admitted he had made mistakes.

The ill-advised Capello Index was not mentioned. But since the day that short-lived concept was unveiled, a previously faultless record has become pock-marked by errors.

Ignoring Joe Cole completely during two games where England have struggled badly to create chances is mystifying, as Terry acknowledged, although there is a suggestion the former Chelsea man will be overlooked once more, with Jermain Defoe partnering Wayne Rooney and James Milner filling the right-sided midfield slot and Gareth Barry on the other side to halt the Slovenians flow of possession.

The intrigue over team selection is slightly misleading through.

In truth, Capello could select any line-up from his 23-man squad - Ledley King and Jamie Carragher miss out tomorrow through injury and suspension respectively - and they should still have enough ability to beat the 25th-ranked nation in the world and the smallest country to make these finals.

The answer lies in England's highly-paid, usually, highly-praised players getting somewhere near the performance level that brought them nine wins from 10 in qualifying - including nine goals against Croatia - and beat Germany in Berlin, results which convinced Capello to make his bold statement in the first place.

"We did really well in qualification but now we are not in a good moment," he admitted.

"Sometimes we improve, but sometimes we aren't at the high level that I want.

"At this moment, we are down from the level that I know, that they know, that we all know.

"But tomorrow we will be fit to fight. Definitely.

"My reputation is not important. We are a team, a group.

"This is a play-off, like a final of the Champions League. That is the spirit we have to find, from the first moment, because we have to win."