John Terry

The Blues trail Sir Alex Ferguson’s side by 15 points in fifth place but victory would lift them into Champions League contention and skipper Terry accepts there can be no more slip-ups at this stage of the season.

A wretched end to 2010 has effectively killed the west Londoners’ hopes of retaining their Premier League trophy but Terry believes they can still end the season with a flourish – starting against United.

The fixture, originally scheduled for December but postponed because of heavy snow, means the Reds have two huge Premier League fixtures in less than a week – on Saturday they travel to Liverpool – and Terry says they are not untouchable.

“We are very confident at home and the way they (United) play might help us,” Terry said.

“I’m not sure how they are going to come at us but other teams that have come to the Bridge have sat back and we’ve found it hard to break them down.

“It is a must-win game for us and the fans are going to be up for it.”

United have just won four league matches on the road this season and have not triumphed at Stamford Bridge since a 3-0 triumph in 2002.

Next up after the visit to Chelsea is an awkward assignment against bitter rivals Liverpool and Portugal winger Nani has identified the two games as potentially decisive in the race for the title.

“We have some tough games coming up,” the Portugal winger told the official club website.

“It’s the most important period of the season and I think that if we can beat Chelsea and Liverpool then we’ll have a fantastic opportunity to win the league.”

United are likely to be without defensive pair Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand because of ankle and calf injuries respectively, while Anderson, Park Ji-Sung and Antonio Valencia are weeks away from returning.

Ferguson is likely to play Wayne Rooney in the lone striker role in front of a five-man midfield if he decides United do not need to rush Tuesday’s game and the advice here would be to look away from the outrights.

It is difficult to make a case for a glut of goals in a game of such significance and the worry is that these two could cancel each other out.

A way in at 4/1 could be the draw-draw half-time/full-time outcome given that United will be happy to try and control this match from the middle and avoid defeat rather than risk going gung-ho and leave with no capital gains.

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England

The 29-year-old Chelsea skipper appears to have suffered a recurrence of an old injury which required surgery to rectify back in 2006.

And, while it is not known how severe the injury is, Capello has sent Terry back to Stamford Bridge for treatment and the Blues will hope he will not face a lengthy absence from their bid to retain the Premier League title (Chelsea 8/13 Outright).

Terry’s absence means that Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who is making his comeback from the knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup finals, is set to partner either Manchester City’s Joleon Lescott or Bolton’s Gary Cahill in the centre of defence for the game.

Cahill was drafted into Capello’s plans when Everton’s Phil Jagielka pulled out due to a hamstring problem, while Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing came into the reckoning when Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon withdrew with back trouble.

However, the Football Association has revealed that it will make do with the players currently available to them, despite Terry’s withdrawal.

Terry’s absence means he has only played one game for England since the World Cup – a friendly win against Hungary in August – after a hamstring injury ruled him out of the opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

Lescott performed well in the win against the Swiss in Basle and will no doubt pip Cahill for a start alongside Ferdinand on Tuesday.

The Three Lions go into the game aiming to continue their 100% start to their qualifying campaign against a Montenegro side which tops Group G (England 1/7 Group Winner) after winning their opening three matches.

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John Terry

Fabio Capello’s men beat Platinum Stars 3-0 in their final warm-up game on Monday in an uninspiring performance, on the back of unconvincing wins against Mexico and Japan.

Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole and Wayne Rooney scored the goals against the Stars and Terry believes that the run-out served its purpose as it helped the players get more used to conditions they will experience in the upcoming showpiece.

“We had one to two weeks off and you lose a bit of sharpness, but that’s improving,” Terry said. “The altitude has been more of surprise to me. Your mouth is really dry.

“We train at quite a high level anyway, coming here was another 150m higher again and we certainly felt that.

“We’re looking good. We needed this game to get used to the flight of the ball and the altitude.”

Fabio Capello’s men get their campaign underway on Saturday against the USA and are 4/9 favourites in the match betting to open up with a win, with the Americans available at 13/2 and the draw at 16/5.

The players will of course hope that their training has had the desired effect as the opening match is taking place at altitude in Rustenburg, at a venue 1403m above sea level, and if they make it to the quarter-finals, they will have to play again in thin, dry air.

Terry has also spoken out about the ‘Jabulani’ ball that is to be used in the World Cup and seems to have joined the ranks of dissenters, which already includes Spain’s Iker Casillas and Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, while David James said the new ball was ‘dreadful’.

“It’s important we put in a lot of crosses in the box and get a lot of shots in from outside the box,” said Terry. “It’s difficult for the keepers.”

Rio Ferdinand has of course been ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury so the other centre-back position alongside Terry has not been confirmed, although Ledley King was given the nod by Capello to start in Monday’s friendly.

It was the first time the pair had started in an international game, although they played together as youngsters for Sunday league side Senrab, and the Chelsea captain believes the partnership can work at the highest level.

“It was important we got 45 minutes together in a real competitive game with Ledley,” Terry said.

“We had a good understanding. We used to play together at Senrab many years ago. The understanding has always been there and we’ve worked a few times in training.”

England also face Algeria and Slovenia in Group C and a nine-point accumulation in the group stages in the England specials markets is favourite at 7/4, with a seven-point total next best at 15/8.

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There were fears the key defender had broken his metatarsal while training with Chelsea ahead of the Pompey clash but it appears the knock is not anywhere near as bad as was first feared and he was sent for a scan merely as a precaution.

Terry issued a statement saying he hopes to play at Wembley this weekend.

“I took a slight knock in training but with such an important match on Saturday the right course of action was to put a protective boot on my right foot and have a CT scan,” he said.

“The scan has shown there is no break and I am hoping to train tomorrow if not Friday and of course play in the FA Cup final on Saturday.”

That is great news for both Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti and England chief Fabio Capello, who will have been concerned earlier on Wednesday that the former skipper could have been a major doubt for the World Cup (England 6/1 to win the World Cup).

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