Advertisement
Chelsea's captain John Terry, No 26 shakes hands with the Wolves players. Alastair Grant/AP/Press Association Images
EBJT

Chelsea defend Terry selection

Despite the Blues skipper currently awaiting the FA’s verdict on whether he racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in October of last year, he lined out last night.

CHELSEA ASSISTANT MANAGER Eddie Newton has insisted John Terry was happy to feature in the club’s 6-0 League Cup win over Wolves last night.

Gary Cahill, Ryan Bertrand, Juan Mata, Oriel Romeu, Fernando Torres and Victor Moses all got on the scoresheet as the west London side comfortably beat their Championship opponents at Stamford Bridge.

And, despite Terry currently awaiting the FA’s verdict on whether he racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in October of last year, Newton underlined the 31-year-old’s desire to play.

“Yes, we’ve been talking with John and what his mindset is and he’s been very positive and he wanted to play and do what he usually does for the team, so there was no problem with that selection,” he said. ”From my understanding of knowing John, he’s a positive person and he loves the club and he’s very enthusiastic about playing, just as he was as a young man.

“He’s been fine [the last couple of days], he’s been dealing with the situation at hand and coming in and doing what he has to do at the club, and me and Robbie have been talking to him and he’s been very upbeat, so there wasn’t a problem picking him.

“We wanted John to start, obviously everything that’s happening with the FA, we wanted to see how it panned out. We got a phone call as he was making his way back from the FA early, so it wasn’t last-minute, so it was an easy selection process, we’d covered all the bases, all the scenario’s that could have happened.”

The former Chelsea midfielder also expressed his belief that Terry’s recent retirement from international duty would have eventually become a necessity in order to extend his career.

“Well that’s like all professionals, the commitment of playing for both your club and your country is hard, it’s hard physically and the older you get the more demanding it becomes on your body,” he said. ”And if you really want to keep playing at the top level for as long as possible, at some point you’re going to have to make a decision.”

Mancini bemoans treatment from rival managers

Croatian football side gets female touch