John Terry claims if England win Euro 2004 they will dedicate it to banned central defender Rio Ferdinand.

Ferdinand is serving an eight-month Football Association ban for failing to attend a drugs test with Manchester United last summer.

Terry is the main beneficiary of Ferdinand's enforced absence with England and he came of age with his performance alongside Sol Campbell which blunted Turkey in last October's vital Euro qualifier in Istanbul.

But the 23-year-old knows the kind of agonies Ferdinand is going through after his own off-the-pitch experiences two years ago.

Terry was charged with affray after an incident in a London nightclub in 2002 and was not considered by the FA for the World Cup in Japan - although he was later cleared after a three-week trial.

Terry admitted: ''I can understand what Rio is going through after being in a similar position myself two years ago.

''It's a shame, not only for him but for England and we are going to miss him.

''He would very much like to be over here with the lads and it must be very hard for him to have to stay away and not be involved. But hopefully we can go all the way in Euro 2004 and dedicate it to Rio.

''Rio came to see us all when we were playing in Manchester a couple of weeks ago and wished me all the best.

''He wants us to win the competition and hopefully we can do so for Rio. My heart goes out to him but he'll come back stronger and better than ever.''

That is for the future and now Terry is concentrating on cementing his place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's plans after recovering from a hamstring injury to make his tournament bow in the 3-0 win over Switzerland.

His partnership with Campbell is blossoming and in four starts together they have conceded only two goals.

Terry said: ''Hopefully Sol and I can develop the partnership. We had a test against Turkey in Istanbul and we did fine and got the result. I get on with Sol anyway. I ask him questions, he's got great experience and hopefully he can pass things onto me.

''I've come a hell of a long way in the last 12 months but I'm still finding my feet.''

The influx of big-name signings into Chelsea last summer after the arrival of Roman Abramovich has also acted as a spur to Terry to raise the level of his game.

He said: ''I had a little chat with Frank Lampard when Chelsea were doing all their buying and we said all we could do was train hard every day and, when we got the chance to play, prove ourselves.

''That's what we did last season. Both of us had very good seasons but that pressure of knowing any player from anywhere in the world could be brought in gives you that little edge to kick on and play well.

''My target this year was to play regularly for Chelsea and I've got the call-up from England as well.''

Terry is hoping he has learnt enough to this time shackle Croatian striker Dado Prso, who scored a stunning header for Monaco against Chelsea in their Champions League semi-final clash.

Terry said: ''That defeat by Monaco and going out of the Champions League was the most painful of my career so far because we believed we could have gone all the way..''