England boss Fabio Capello is keen to protect in-form Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon.

Lennon is among those set to prosper as Capello revealed it was always his intention to preserve the Tottenham flyer's fitness by replacing him with record-breaking David Beckham at half-time against Slovakia on Saturday.

"I decided before the game that Lennon would play until half-time and it was the same with Gerrard," he said.

"They are both in fantastic form so I didn't want to play them too much. I want them to be fresh for the next game.

"Lennon in particular I tried to protect. He is so quick and sometimes when they are playing against someone like that, the defenders will try to bring them down."