Skipper Terry, 30, opened the scoring with a first-half header before vice-captain Lampard, 32, ended relegation-threatened Blackpool’s resistance with two goals in the second period, one a penalty.

Jason Puncheon, who hit the post for the home team in the first half, pulled a goal back with four minutes to go when he drilled a low left-footed shot into the corner of the net.

Chelsea are fourth in the table with 51 points from 28 matches. They have a game in hand on leaders Manchester United (60 points) and visit the Old Trafford side later in the season.

“I don’t think we were at our best today. At times we were a bit sloppy but luckily with a bit of quality up front we won it,” Lampard told Sky Sports.

As for Chelsea’s title ambitions, Lampard added: “You have to believe. It’s a long shot… but if we go and win every game we can still do it”.

The Londoners’ long trip to the north-west coast was anything but a pleasant evening by the seaside early on as Premier League paupers Blackpool hustled and bustled the multi-millionaires of Chelsea out of their stride.

Terry put the champions in front when he nodded home Lampard’s right-wing corner in the 20th minute but the visitors were generally toothless in attack.

New signing Fernando Torres hardly featured and strike partner Didier Drogba’s touch was poor.

The Ivorian was forced off early in the second half after hurting his hip and compatriot Salomon Kalou came on as a substitute to revitalise Chelsea’s fortunes.

Kalou was brought down in the penalty area by Blackpool defender Ian Evatt in the 63rd minute and Lampard calmly stroked the spot kick past Richard Kingson.

Three minutes later Kalou produced some clever footwork before sending Lampard racing clear to sidefoot Chelsea’s third goal.

Source: supersport.co.za

Pic: football365.com

The news is the latest blow for Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who saw his side beaten 3-0 at home by Sunderland on Sunday. Ancelotti is also dealing with persistent injuries to Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, and is playing Didier Drogba despite a bout of malaria.

Now he faces being without his captain Terry for weeks — maybe even months — as the defender attempts to get to the bottom of an injury that has been troubling him since the end of last season.

Terry said: ‘I have been struggling with a nerve pain coming from the top of my leg down to my hamstring and to the outside of my calf. It started towards the end of last season but with Chelsea being in the mix until the day of the FA Cup final, I didn’t have the chance to rest or pull out of games. Then I went straight to the World Cup with England.

‘I had three weeks’ rest after that and thought I would come back without it, but since then it has got worse and worse. It has been manageable up until the last two weeks but when we played Fulham I stretched to win the ball against Clint Dempsey and it got a lot worse.

It is at a point where I can’t carry on with it. I used to be able to make it through games because the adrenaline gets going and you blank the pain out, but now there really is no decision to make.

‘After games I am in agony and not sleeping at all. I used to play with pain at seven out of 10. Now? It’s 10 out of 10. I need to take a few weeks rest, see a couple of specialists and solve the problem.’

Terry will attend a meeting at Chelsea’s training ground today to discuss the future treatment of his condition.

He may fly to Italy later this week to see a specialist team recommended by Ancelotti, and has also been referred to nerve specialists in London.

An epidural treatment given on Friday failed to work, taking him out of the defeat against Sunderland and England’s friendly with France at Wembley tomorrow.

Terry explained: ‘The epidural could have helped with the pain for between six weeks and two years. They said it works on 75 per cent of cases, but unfortunately I am in the other 25 per cent.

‘Basically, I am trying whatever is suggested. I’m at my wits’ end. I know I won’t play on Saturday against Birmingham City, but beyond that there are no clues. It could be weeks, it could be months.

‘Everybody is coming up with different names and I’ve said I will go anywhere if someone can solve the problem.

‘The pain is dreadful and it can come on when I am driving, when I am having dinner, even in bed.”

Source:  dailymail.co.uk

Fabio Capello already has injury doubts over a number of players, including Gareth Barry, and Terry can now add himself to the list after a possible metatarsal injury that he suffered in a Chelsea training session at Cobham.

Already with problems over the fitness of Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King’s chronic knee, England named five central defenders in their provisional squad, giving callups to Michael Dawson, Jamie Carragher and Matthew Upson.

Source: soccernet.espn.go.com

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.”

Source: teamtalk.com

Pic: connect.in.com

Bridge released a statement through his lawyers on Thursday, confirming that he does not wish to be selected for Fabio Capello’s squad for this year’s World Cup in South Africa because his presence would be potentially “divisive”.

The former Chelsea left-back has been considering his international future since reports of Terry’s affair with his former partner Vanessa Perroncel, a French underwear model with whom he has a four-year-old child, first came to light.

Terry was stripped of the England captaincy by Capello as a result of the scandal and the Italian had thought Bridge would continue to play for his country.

With first choice left-back Ashley Cole out with an injury, Bridge would have lined up alongside Terry in the England defence in Wednesday’s friendly against Egypt at Wembley but he feels that is an impossible situation for him to contemplate..

It has also been claimed that Bridge still feels so hurt by Terry that he may not even shake hands with the Chelsea captain during the pre-match pleasantaries this weekend.

“I have thought long and hard about my position in the England football team in the light of the reporting and events over the last few weeks,” Bridge said in his statement.

“It has always been an honour to play for England. However, after careful thought, I believe my position in the squad is now untenable and potentially divisive.

“Sadly therefore, I feel, for the sake of the team and in order to avoid what will be inevitable distractions, I have decided not to put myself forward for selection.

“I have today informed the management of this decision. I wish the team all the very best in South Africa.”

With Cole sidelined for three months due to an ankle injury, Bridge’s decision leaves Capello without both his first-choice left-backs and he will now turn to Aston Villa’s Stephen Warnock or Manchester City’s Joleon Lescott instead.

Capello is already without Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who has a back problem, and Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson, sidelined with a knee injury.

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

The eagerly-awaited showdown had been meandering towards a disappointing goalless draw until Terry was left unmarked to glance in a Frank Lampard free kick — with striker Nicolas Anelka claiming he got the final touch.

The victory took Chelsea to 30 points, five clear of Arsenal, who won 4-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, and United, who also lost to Liverpool last month.

Tottenham Hotspur are fourth on 22 after they beat Sunderland 2-0 on Saturday. Liverpool host Birmingham City on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, Hull City beat visitors Stoke City 2-1 with a stoppage-time goal, Everton won 2-1 at West Ham United while Wigan Athletic drew 1-1 at home to Fulham.

However, all eyes were on Stamford Bridge this weekend, even though for the most part the big game failed to deliver.

United were without first-choice centre-halves Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic but stand-ins Wes Brown and Jonny Evans were barely tested in a game high on errors and short on goalmouth action.

Chelsea’s defence was similarly comfortable, despite the willing running of United striker Wayne Rooney, and the first hour passed without either goalkeeper seriously troubled.

Peter Cech stretched to keep out a Rooney curler after 68 minutes as United applied some pressure but it remained tight.

The absence of Ferdinand and Vidic proved key, however, eight minutes later when United’s defence got hopelessly confused defending a straightforward Lampard free kick from the left.

Terry reached it first but Anelka and his strike partner Didier Drogba were also in the vicinity — unlike any United defenders.

The champions upped the tempo after that but, with forward Dimitar Berbatov also absent through injury, too much fell on Rooney’s shoulders and the Chelsea defence was able to crowd him out.

Terry, whose day began with some unwelcome tabloid headlines about his family, was delighted.

“I want it (the goal) because I’ve never scored against Manchester United home or away, but Nicolas was brilliant today so he can have it,” he told Sky Sports.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti added: “We did what we had to do. We beat a very good opponent, the best opponent, and we’re five points clear but we know this is a very long (season). We have to maintain this gap.”

United manager Alex Ferguson was left complaining about the free kick that led to the goal and claimed his defenders were impeded defending it.

“That goal shouldn’t have been allowed,” he said. “The referee’s position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous, he can’t see anything.

“It was a bad decision, but there’s nothing we can do about it. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes, that’s the way the players are talking in there — it was a bad one.

“We have dominated the game and had great chances to win the match and that’s our fault.

“We should be finishing it off and we have only ourselves to blame in that respect but we never got the break we needed. We did play well and were the far better team.”

Source: supersport.co.za

Pic: premierleague.com

Terry had been a target for Manchester City, with local media speculating that they had offered him a salary of £200 000 per week after making a bid of around £30 million.

The 28-year-old centre back and club captain remained silent on the issue despite City manager Mark Hughes regularly confirming his interest and British newspapers ramping up the speculation.

He finally made a statement on the club’s website (www.chelseafc.co.uk.) on Sunday saying: “There has been a lot of speculation recently about my future and I want to clear this up once and for all.

“I am totally committed to Chelsea and always have been.

“Chelsea have also made it clear to me consistently that there was never any intention to accept any kind of offer.

“When you are linked with any club, or with a manager who I have huge respect for, it will always make headlines but me leaving Chelsea was never a possibility.

“I know there has been comment that I should have made a statement earlier. However, throughout this period there have been numerous discussions between myself, the owner and the Chelsea Board and we all agreed that the timing of any statement would suit everyone involved in those talks, not any outside influences or agendas.

“What is clear to me following those discussions is that Chelsea’s ambition remains as high as ever. This has been further proved by the appointment of (manager) Carlo Ancelotti. I am certain that he will take this club on to the next level.

Terry joined Chelsea as a trainee in 1997 and is hugely popular with the west London club’s fans.

He had the chance to secure the Champions League title in 2008 but slipped and missed what would have been the decider in a penalty shootout against Manchester United, who went on to win it.

Despite winning domestic honours galore, the Champions League is, probably because of his Moscow failure, desperately close to Terry’s heart.

“Another important factor was knowing that Chelsea would be securing key current players for the long term. The strengthening of the squad around this core is crucial to pushing us onto greater success,” he said.

“I am as committed as ever to helping drive Chelsea forward and I will be proud to lead the team for as long as I can.”

Ancelotti said earlier this month that he considered the centre back to be a “symbol of the club” and that no price would be enough to take him from Stamford Bridge.

Source: supersport.co.za

Pic: champions365.com

Terry has been linked with a move to Manchester City all summer, despite Chelsea denying that that they are interested in selling their captain.

Terry played the whole match when the Blues won 2-0 over Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl in California this morning.

“He’s our captain and we need him and we know he’s going to stay with us and win more trophies,” Drogba told ESPN.

Drogba added, on facing former boss Jose Mourinho: “It’s always nice to see him, he was a big part of Chelsea’s success and now we’re moving on.

“We have a new manager now and we’re all happy for him because he won his second game out of two, so it’s all good.

“We’re working hard, this is only the start and we want to be ready for the start of the season.”

Source: soccernews.com