England captain Rio Ferdinand has said the injury which put him out of the World Cup in South Africa was a complete accident (England 3/1 to be Europe’s top team).

Ferdinand, who has been replaced by Steven Gerrard as England skipper, is to return to England after the team’s opening Group C encounter with USA on Saturday (4/9 England 16/5 draw 13/2 USA – match betting).

The incident which ended his World Cup dreams happened at England’s Bafokeng Sports Centre base, during a challenge with striker Emile Heskey.

“It was a complete freak, an accident,” said Ferdinand.

“The ball came in from one of the lads to Emile, I’d gone to try and tackle him from behind – he didn’t actually see me coming – we both went off balance and Emile’s weight went down on my knee.

“It’s no fault of his at all. It’s just a freak accident that could happen at any given time and it had no connection to any previous injuries I’ve had.”

The central defender said he knew even before the scan that he would be forced to miss the tournament.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play in the World Cup even before I got the scan (result) – I was just waiting to get it confirmed,” he told BBC Radio Five Live.

“It’s disappointing, but I’ve come to terms with it now.

“The first night was quite a pretty long night, going over what could’ve been and to not be able to represent your country in the World Cup.

“I was going over scenarios in my head of what could’ve been.

“Leading out your country into a major tournament is the stuff of dreams and it’s taken from under your feet.

“It was a long evening thinking about stuff like that.

“But after that I’ve thought to myself I’ve got to get on with it. There’s a lot more people worse off than I am.

“I’m not dying and it’s not like I’ll never be able to play football again.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to come back, do some good rehab and I’ll be fit and that’s what I’m concentrating on now.”

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