Terry reveals support of team-mates

Mike McGrath,Pa
Thursday 04 March 2010 19:32 GMT
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John Terry has revealed the support he has received from team-mates since losing the England captaincy and he believes the reaction of players and fans against Egypt shows unity.

The 29-year-old, stripped of the armband following allegations involving Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend that led to his former Chelsea team-mate turning his back on England, was subjected to jeers from a pocket of fans at Wembley when his name was read out before kick-off.

The boos from a minority of supporters continued in the first half but were forgotten by half-time, with England then coming back from a goal behind at the interval to record a victory in the friendly against Africa's champions.

Terry is hoping a line is now drawn under the saga and Fabio Capello's men can put the finishing touches to their preparations for the World Cup this summer with the backing of the fans.

"I showed my appreciation after the game. It means a lot the way they responded," said the Chelsea centre-back. "As Wayne (Rooney) said in the week, it's not about me, let's forget about that now and concentrate on England in the World Cup.

"You could see against Egypt we have a really good chance if we keep playing like that and progressing. That is what we said 18 months ago, that we want to be in this position and keep improving and game after game we've seen that."

Terry views the support from his team-mates as proof that the spirit in the England camp is still intact, with the performance against Egypt illustrating the point.

"Players have spoken publicly but privately I've had a lot of support from the lads as well which has been really nice," Terry said. "The most important thing was the match and putting in the right performance.

"That fight and drive we have for each other will never go away. The spirit among the lads is fantastic and we showed that by coming from a goal behind against a really good side. We're delighted with the result."

He added: "We showed that (spirit) in Holland and other games as well. It's really important, especially in front of our own crowd. We have two more games before the World Cup so it was important to come away from the Egypt game with a win and a good performance."

Terry has also dismissed question marks over his personal form, after getting turned for Inter Milan's opener in the Champions League clash at the San Siro, then being part of a defence that conceded four goals against Manchester City at the weekend.

"It's a couple of bad results," Terry added. "A couple of bad results sometimes means a bad performance from me surprisingly.

"I was pleased with my performance against Egypt. It was important to come out and play the way I did. The main thing was the team, collectively. Even when the players came on they made an impact and gave the manager food for thought."

Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard insists Terry's England performances will not be affected by losing the captaincy.

The midfielder said: "It's an old cliche but every player should act as if they have the armband, certain players act like that more than others. John does that and will continue to do that regardless of the armband or not.

"He played very well. It was a difficult game too because they are very sharp up front with top-drawer strikers. He did very well, like he always does for England."

Lampard explained that jeering, if only from a small number of fans, can be counter-productive.

"Most fans understand that booing, whether about on-the-field issues or off-the-field issues, doesn't help," he said. "There is a feeling now that we're in the zone where we have to concentrate on getting out the negativity because that can affect people and no-one needs that.

"It's only been two or three days together and people are concentrating on their football and their rest in between times. We've tried to block out any negative feeling."

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