Spurs duo hail Terry's focus

 

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Friday 23 December 2011 20:00 EST
Comments
John Terry: The centre-back put in a strong performance against Spurs, including a late goal-line block
John Terry: The centre-back put in a strong performance against Spurs, including a late goal-line block (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Ledley King praised John Terry's mental resilience following Thursday's 1-1 draw between Tottenham and Chelsea.

Despite discovering the previous day that he was to be prosecuted for racism, Terry played with focus and commitment, and made a crucial last-minute block from a goal-bound Adebayor shot.

"I think John Terry showed good personality, great character, he played very well," said Adebayor afterwards.

The current case is not the first time that Terry's behaviour has made headlines and Adebayor believes that his experience has made him more resistant to distractions. "All those things you deal with through experience," Adebayor said. "John Terry, it's not his first problem in his life, or his career, he had a couple of problems already, so I think now he knows how to deal with them."

King, who played for the same club as Terry as a boy, also complimented the Chelsea captain on his focus. "He played well today, as did the rest of them. He's a top player. He's got himself in the right position and saved his team at the end," King said. "He's a strong character and let's his football do the talking out there."

Thursday night's draw keeps Tottenham in third, two points ahead of Chelsea. King added: "I don't remember going into Christmas in such a good position," he said. "We would definitely be disappointed if we did not finish in the top four from here."

Harry Redknapp's fear that he would be without Rafael van der Vaart until the new year is likely to prove unfounded. Van der Vaart was taken off at half-time against Chelsea because of a hamstring problem, but the Dutchman is confident of being able to return against Norwich on Tuesday.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in