Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed he will select captain John Terry to face QPR in next Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round tie despite an ongoing race row with defender Anton Ferdinand.
The match sees the Blues and their skipper return to Loftus Road for the first time since Terry allegedly used racist language towards Ferdinand in a shock 1-0 defeat back in October.
The 31-year-old is due to appear in court to face a criminal charge relating to the incident just four days later, but Villas-Boas insists he is not thinking twice about selecting his captain.
“There is no temptation to do that (leave him out),” the Blues boss told reporters.
“I think he will cope with it. He will be in contention as he is part of the squad.”
The Blues boss also took the opportunity to plead with the club’s fans not to ignite the situation any further by singling out Ferdinand for abuse from the terraces.
“Regarding the fans, it is our responsibility as a club to calm the situation around the game and also to put on a message for the media,” he added.
“The media can do excellent work in calming things down and everyone can have an impact to make it just another game of football.”
（Goal.com）
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