Lisbon: England midfielder Nicky Butt is out of Euro 2004 after suffering knee ligament damage in training.

“Nicky Butt has medial collateral ligament damage which he picked up in training yesterday,” a team spokesman said on Tuesday. “It’s normally a three- or four-week injury. He’s expected not to take any further part in the tournament.”

Uefa said later that no replacement for Butt would be permitted.

Butt is the second England and Manchester United midfielder to be injured after Paul Scholes twisted his ankle in the opening 1-2 defeat by France on Sunday. Scholes, who plays on the left side, is rated only 50-50 to play against Switzerland on Thursday.

Eriksson appeared almost resigned to losing Scholes. “He twisted his ankle and the doctor and the physio said he is the only one who is 50-50 for Thursday.”

Bayern Munich’s Owen Hargreaves appears to be at the forefront of his thinking as a possible replacement for Scholes.

“We have a lot of options — Hargreaves is one and came on very well against France. (Kieron) Dyer is another, of course and there is Joe Cole.

Terry to return

John Terry is set to return to the centre of England’s defence in Thursday’s crucial group B clash with Switzerland.

Terry has recovered from the hamstring strain that kept him out of Sunday’s match and Eriksson indicated the Chelsea defender would come back into the team, despite Ledley King’s impressive performance alongside Sol Campbell in his first competitive match for England.

Eriksson, though, delivered a vote of confidence in captain David Beckham’s leadership in the wake of the Real Madrid midfielder’s penalty miss against France.

“He is mentally strong and he is our captain so, of course, he can lead the team forward. It’s important that Beckham and the other senior players, like Gary Neville, Sol Campbell and Michael Owen do that.”

Eriksson revealed that he had substituted Wayne Rooney on Sunday for fear the 18-year-old could get himself sent off in the closing stages of the match.