Blues Offer Terry Break

The centre-back was Chelsea's captain for the second match since allegations of his private life hit the newspapers as he led the Blues out in their 1-1 draw at Hull City on Tuesday night.

Headlines have provided saturation coverage of Terry's alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of England team-mate Wayne Bridge and it has been rumoured that further revelations are imminent.

It has therefore been questioned whether the defender should remain as England skipper and a meeting with Fabio Capello regarding the subject is predicted to take place on Thursday evening or Friday morning.

There has been speculation that Terry will then be allowed by Ancelotti to miss the FA Cup clash with Cardiff on 13th February to address matters in his private life, which would include spending Valentine's Day with his wife.
Holiday

Ancelotti said after Chelsea's draw at Hull: "If he needs a holiday I will give him a holiday. If he doesn't need a holiday then he will play against Cardiff.

"It is an issue for me and John Terry, it is not your problem I think."

The Italian also reiterated that the saga was not damaging morale at Chelsea, and claims he has not spoken with Terry about the issue.

He said: "No. I have never had a discussion. I like to speak to my players (but) I don't like to speak about this. It is not a question I want to speak about here.

"For him nothing has changed. He has played a very good game and every game he is leading very well. He is doing his best every game.

Atmosphere

"The atmosphere in the team is the same. No change."

Ancelotti also vowed that the interest in Terry would not derail the Blues' Premier League title bid, despite failing to take advantage of the game in hand at Hull.

"Nothing can disturb our concentration in this competition," he said.

"I think that Chelsea are focused for every game.

"Sometimes we play good football and sometimes we have more difficulty but the concentration is always on top."