Bent set to miss Euros after needing surgery The England striker Darren Bent is now almost certain to miss Euro 2012 and will not play again this season for Aston Villa after it emerged last night that he needs an operation on his ankle that will rule him out of action for the next three months. Bent, 28, withdrew from Stuart Pearce's current England squad on Sunday as a result of the ankle problem but the extent of the damage only emerged yesterday when he was diagnosed with ruptured ligaments that require an operation. He is out of tomorrow's friendly against the Netherlands and will not play again until May at the earliest, which will give him little time to re-establish his fitness before the squad for Euro 2012 is named by the end of that month. Meanwhile, England's players are prepared to back another foreign appointment as manager, despite the expensive failure and communication problems of Fabio Capello's reign. Capello's £6m-a-year tenure ended dramatically earlier this month when he resigned following a clash with the Football Association over its decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy. There had been an assumption that an English manager - with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Redknapp still the odds-on favourite - would follow Capello. However, the FA cast doubt on that policy when the organisation's chairman, David Bernstein, said recently that the new manager would "not definitely be English." Such an admission has given the FA leeway as it looks to find a way forward and names such as Jose Mourinho, Martin O'Neill and Arsène Wenger certainly have the CVs to merit interest from the governing body. James Milner, who admitted he would like to be offered the vacant captaincy, said the current crop of England players would have no problem if the FA decides to emulate its appointments of Capello and Sven Goran Eriksson by looking outside its own country. "It's an England team full of England players but as players you want the best man for the job," the midfielder said yesterday. If that's English, then great, but if not, that's a decision for the FA and they'll pick the best person for the job. Everyone has their own views but as a player you just want the best people you can. That is from the manager to the physios to the kit man, you just want the best person in charge, but it's not up to the players. It's the FA's decision. Hopefully, if it's English then great. Nothing's changed for us as players [following Capello's resignation] as a unit. We just want to go out there and win football games. Whoever is leading us into the tournament as manager, they are going to want to do as well as they can and win football matches as well, so that's the thing we have in common. We try to achieve as a squad and keep improving and getting better and better. Obviously, every manager has their own way of running teams, their own way in the dressing room before games, their own way of preparing teams for games. Everyone is different and whoever comes in is going to be different to Fabio Capello. That's down to the players then to adapt. I have a lot to thank him for. He gave me my England debut and my appearances up to date. You always remember whoever gives you your debut and I am grateful for that. I learnt as much as I could from Fabio Capello when he was here. You look at his record as a manager and what he has done in the game and what he did here as well. We went into this campaign trying to qualify for the Euros and we did that. Milner is now asking Pearce, or whoever the long-term appointment may be, to consider him as captain. The Manchester City midfielder, who made his full England debut two and a half years ago, said: "As a kid growing up you want to play for your country and you dream of one day captaining your country. If I was asked to do that, I would be very proud and do it to the best of my ability on and off the field. I don't see why I can't do it. I have played enough games in the Premier League and played for nearly 10 years now as a professional but these issues will be resolved, the manager and the captaincy. As a footballer I always try to do everything I can to maximise the best out of my abilities, whether that's through preparation or training or whatever, I will always try to do that to improve as a player. It would be the same if you were asked to be captain, you'd do everything you can to help yourself and the team. Nothing changes there, really. Your responsibilities, your press goes up and your press demands. People might look on you slightly differently but as a player you still go out there to play as well as you can for England. Nothing changes. The team comes first as always, whether you've got an armband on or not. The most important thing is that England or Manchester City come before the individual. Stewart Downing, meanwhile, has told his Liverpool team-mate Andy Carroll he can still make the final squad for the European Championship. The £35m forward was overlooked for Pearce's squad and Downing said: "I think there is [a place for him]. He's played before, he's scored for England and he's done well. He just needs to keep working hard and playing well for Liverpool and he'll get his chance again. He's been playing very well. He's stepped it up with some big performances. I'm sure he's probably disappointed he's not in. I'm sure he's looking to the Euros thinking probably he's got a chance of playing, but for Andy he just has to keep playing well and hope Stuart takes note of it.