John Terry and Theo Walcott Show Their Mettle

With the World Cup now mere months away, a handful of players will find their work over the last three and a half years are suddenly irrelevant.

All eyes will be on what they can do in the Premiership during the balmy spring months in the run up to South Africa. In the aftermath of England's friendly with Egypt last week, Theo Walcott and John Terry are two such men.

They find themselves in the same boat, but for entirely different reasons.

The disgraced former England captain, Terry, finds himself devoid of form, shorn of the armband, and battling to regain the respect of the England support.

Walcott is in a battle for the right to wear the Three Lions at all this summer. Since becoming England's youngest hat trick scorer (and only Geoff Hurst has scored a more important one) he has been plagued by injury and his form, also, has deserted him.

But when a World Cup looms and we can count the remaining Premiership games on our hands, the only thing that matters, and the only thing that will get them on the plane and in the team is their current form.

This weekend has done wonders for both players.

Whilst John Terry was never in realistic danger of losing his place in the squad, Capello being far too mature to contemplate such a knee-jerk reaction, there was every possibility that his poor run of form could have left him out of the side had it continued.

Matthew Upson had not put a foot wrong all season before the Egypt game, and with Rio Ferdinand offering England something totally different alongside a traditional stopper, Terry's lack of form stood out.

Fingers were obviously pointed at his affair with the ex girlfriend of Wayne Bridge.

However, the fact remains that, right or wrong, his off-field exploits do not necessarily have to translate to on-field struggles.

It is Terry's task, which he has taken to with relish, to prove that they have not done so. If his imperious performance against Stoke, capped with a goal, is anything to go by then he will be back to his best in South Africa, leading the team whether formally or not.

Theo Walcott has work to do for reasons entirely concerned with what he does on the pitch. Barely 18 months on from that night in Zagreb when it seemed the world was at his feet, Walcott has fallen behind Wright-Phillips, Lennon, and Milner in most people's pecking order, and Ashley Young, Stuart Downing, and David Beckham in some.

He stands accused of being a one dimensional player.

Of having no footballing brain.

Of offering far too muted a threat, all menace and no end product.

He has devastating pace, so goes the conventional wisdom, but little clue as to how to best use it.

Perhaps most damaging for an English player, he has been accused of having no bottle.

Never was this more boldly underlined than against Egypt, where his hour of toil against an average international defence was overshadowed by Wright-Phillips half hour of dazzling wing play.

No sooner had most of us written off Walcott's World Cup bid, however, than he made a significant about turn and put in the kind of performance we know he is capable of.

Admittedly it was only against Burnley. But in an Arsenal side full of stars, it was Walcott who came to the forefront and made the crucial contribution, scoring a superb individual effort to thwart a spirited comeback.

It was just the kind of leg-up he needed, and all of England will be hoping he can stay injury free, and find his form.

If Terry and Walcott want to convince the England following that they truly merit their places in the team this summer, they will have to continue in this vein until May.

Because for all their troubles over the past months and years, neither player would change a thing so long as they can be in full flight this June.