JT Back Next Week and Frank on the Carling Cup Final
CHELSEA skipper John Terry is expected to be back playing next weekend.
Boss Jose Mourinho reckons Terry will be in contention for the match with Portsmouth following his ankle ligament injury.
It was feared the defender would miss a month of action after picking up a knock in Wednesday's draw at Porto.
But Mourinho has confirmed Terry should only miss the Carling Cup final with Arsenal.
He said: “I think he should be playing next weekend.”
FRANK LAMPARD has waited five long years to avenge defeat by Arsenal in Cardiff.
Despite all Chelsea’s glory in the past two seasons, Lamps still smarts from the 2002 FA Cup final defeat.
With Cardiff set to stage their last major domestic final before Wembley reopens for business, Lampard, 28, wants to sign off at the Millennium Stadium with victory.
He said: “It’s five years since we lost that game and I haven’t forgotten.
“It was a massive disappointment and still sticks in my memory. It was a big occasion and when you fight as hard to reach a final as we did and then lose it it’s disappointing.
“But we’re a different club now, a different set of players.
“Now we go there with a different mentality. We go there to win and hopefully we’ll do that and put it right.”
Goals from Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg sealed a 2-0 win for the Gunners.
And Lampard knows the Blues will have to cope with loss of John Terry after the inspirational skipper damaged ankle ligaments in Porto on Wednesday night.
Stand-in captain Lampard, Terry and Carlo Cudicini are the only survivors from the team.
He added: “For John to miss the final is a real disappointment. We’ll try and deliver it for all of us - John as well. No one wants to lose a player of John’s calibre.
“He’s a big player for us, your heart does sink, especially after losing him for so long and getting him back and then losing him again.
“We’re a squad and I’m sure John will be there with us regardless and we’ll take it as a team if we can win it.
“Me, John and Carlo are the only ones left from the last time we played against Arsenal in Cardiff. We span both eras at Chelsea.
“But we were a team then which was just delighted to get to an FA Cup final.
“Now it’s different expectations, and rightly so because of the injection of money we’ve had and because of the squad we have.
“I think whatever team they put out we’ll have to treat them with full respect because we’ve seen them get good results at Liverpool and Tottenham.”
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