They swopped shirts, a little one for a large one, and the diminutive Sergei Rebrov must have pondered that it was going to be rather more preferable playing alongside Sol Campbell than against him.

Of all the positive England cameos which emerged in the Wembley send-off against Ukraine, that scene was the most reassuring.

Campbell had made his mark on the man he was marking and had reminded those starting to doubt him that he has no doubts about himself.

Rebrov, Tottenham's sprightly new import, looked almost puzzled when questioned about whether he had been impressed with his team-mate-to-be.

'Yes, yes . . . he is a very good player,' he offered, as if wondering why anyone would need to ask after watching how Campbell had done so much to neutralise both him and his illustrious partner, Andriy Shevchenko, the more the game progressed.

He could not have guessed how, over here, many had been beginning to worry a bit about the man who had so illuminated England's World Cup campaign in France two years ago. They feared Campbell had lost his confidence and that his old spirit of adventure had evaporated with it.

The previous Saturday, they had seen him give his least convincing display in 30 internationals, caught out of position too often and being culpable for Brazil's soft equaliser.

They wondered if his uncertainty on the field perhaps mirrored his uncertainty about his future at Spurs, which will not be sorted out until after the European Championship.

Yet as he emerged from the dressing room on Wednesday night - last as usual - after a performance which had again begun scratchily, but had progressively revealed him at his towering best, he stood relaxed in the tunnel and smiled ruefully about the doom merchants.

Spurs weren't on his mind - only a European dream with England. Crisis, what crisis?

'I have learned over the years that whatever you do, there are going to be people who are going to pick out something and criticise,' Campbell said, insisting that there has never been much wrong with his confidence levels.

'On Saturday, most of the lads hadn't played together for quite a while and, for international football, they had got rusty - me included.

'But against Ukraine, we built from that Saturday performance and the more times you play, the better you get and the more comfortable you are going to be. I hadn't played for England for two or three months and European football at club level had been non-existent, so it was always going to take time to adjust.

'Now, though, the closer you get to the Championship, the more switched on you get. We were up against one of the best strike partnerships in Europe who have been together for years and keep switching around effectively.

'With a couple of midfielders breaking, they were getting spare early on, but as the game went on, we got on top. I really enjoyed it.'

Never more so than when he was given the protection to go marauding on a few of his trademark sorties towards the opposition box, one of the most exhilarating sights in English football.

He is such a powerful natural athlete and so surprisingly deft on the ball for a 6ft 2in, 14st man that he is difficult to dispossess on such forays.

At least three times as Campbell roared through and past Ukrainian cover, moments of panic were induced. When he does this, he has the capacity to lift the whole mood within both the crowd and among his team-mates.

Though Campbell shrugs that he does not mind which role he is asked to play - be it in a back four or among three centre-backs - he concedes that it is only with the latter option that he can really feel liberated.

He added: 'It's simple really. With the four, you can't go forward because you will leave yourself exposed, but in a three you have more licence to go forward when the play opens up. Of course, I enjoy that opportunity when I get the chance.'

National coach Kevin Keegan continues to insist that the Brazil and Ukraine matches indicate that England have the flexibility to play '4-4-2, 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 because whatever system we play, it's the commitment and willingness to make it work which shines through'.

Even though he says that he already knows more or less his team to face Portugal in the Championship opener, it is still almost impossible to second guess him.

Should Keegan plump for the 4-4-2, though, there can be no place at all for Campbell if he feels Arsenal's tried-and-trusted central pairing of Tony Adams and Martin Keown has to be inviolate.

Certainly, there could be no repeat of the calamitous experiment of using Campbell at right-back as in the Euro play-off at Wembley when, caught woefully out of position, the Scots capitalised down their left flank to set up the winner.

Yet, England without an on-song Campbell would surely lose a dimension. Wednesday's 3-4-1-2 system - described by Keegan as the one he would choose 'if you really need to win a game' and one which initially malfunctioned - finally brought out the best of him and the mood was catching.

Alongside him, Campbell noted, Adams was equally excellent, a reassuring presence and occasionally just as intrepid.

A back three of Keown, Adams and Campbell may yet offer the most aggressive option but Tottenham's finest is now convinced that, whatever formation Keegan adopts, the surge of adrenaline running through the squad means any England line-up need have no inferiority complex.

Campbell admitted: 'This has been a good week but we are still only building. There's Malta at the weekend and Kevin is obviously going to switch it around to keep everyone fresh, but this Ukraine game has been important in giving everyone more confidence.

'As the first game in Holland approaches, you can feel everyone getting keyed up and by the time it comes around, we will be even better.'

Including him. The real Sol Campbell, you sense, is raring to bestride the big stage again.