Carlo Ancelotti Insists John Terry Will Not Be Distracted When Chelsea Face Manchester City

Media storm will not affect skipper's focus...

By Zack Wilson

Feb 26, 2010 6:16:00 PM

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti does not believe that any of John Terry's current off-field problems will distract his skipper when his team face Manchester City at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

Much of the focus ahead of the fixture has been on how Terry and Wayne Bridge will react when they face each other on the pitch for the first time since reports broke of the centre-back's alleged affair with his former team-mate's ex-girlfriend.

Bridge this week felt compelled to end his international career due to the anger he feels over the issue and its potential effect on England's chances at this summer's World Cup in South Africa.

But Ancelotti does not think Terry's focus will be affected for Saturday's game, even though he admits it is an issue he has never had to face previously in his coaching career.

"John Terry is a professional. He doesn't have a problem to look forward, to stay focused on the match," the Italian said on Friday.

"He has a very good mentality. He has had a fantastic season and he will do the same until the end of the season.

"He is doing good performances. I don't see that his condition went down. I think he's doing a good job for the team.

"I'm sure tomorrow will be Manchester City against Chelsea [rather than Terry versus Bridge] so we have to pay attention, we have to stay in focus. 

"Manchester City is a very good team. They have a lot of good players with strong quality, we have to think about this.

"No way will it distract the team. I don't know how many people are interested in this. For sure not the players.

"In Italy we have never had anything like this."

Ancelotti was also hoping for a positive reaction from his team to Wednesday night's Champions League defeat at Inter, although he also saw plenty to be pleased about in the game in Milan.

With Manchester United playing in Sunday's League Cup final against Aston Villa, the Blues boss was also keen to exploit the chance for his team to increase their lead at the top of the Premier League table
"We were disappointed because it was not a good result [against Inter]," he added.

"But I think other things were very good. We showed good mentality, very good personality and I think we have a good chance to win at Stamford Bridge.

"We also want to go four points clear of Manchester United. We know tomorrow will be a difficult game because the last game against Manchester City we lost."