DO THE boos hurt John Terry? Do the chants cut deep? Does the microscope burn? It has never appeared that way. What wounds John Terry is losing. Conceding goals. Straining to be half the player he was in his pomp.

Brickbats have seldom seemed to bother him half as much as his detractors would like. And there were many here at White Hart Lane. Many and varied.

Not for the first time in his eventful career, Terry found himself under special scrutiny, with his on-pitch performance analysed for signs of any stress emanating from the unattractive headlines he currently commands following the CPS announcement he will stand trial for racist abuse. From the moment he emerged into the spotlight he did what he always does, presenting a devil-may-care attitude. He sprinted towards the Park Lane, puffed his chest out, patted his badge and saluted the Chelsea contingent. He is fond of a performance that reeks of his own determination to tackle adversity head on.

Of course, Terry was the subject of some toxic hostility. But he gave the clear impression his worst moment came when he was exposed for footballing, rather than any other, limitations.

Eight minutes into this compelling encounter, he heard nothing but white noise. Terry was caught dawdling as Tottenham broke down the left. Emmanuel Adebayor was his man. Terry was in front of him. Yet as Gareth Bale’s cross skidded over, Terry slowed up just as Adebayor anticipated keenly. The difference in sharpness between the two men gave Spurs the lead.

Terry was quicker to motor up the pitch midway through the first half when Daniel Sturridge equalised. His eagerness to take part in the goal celebration inspired him to storm upfield a few minutes later to fill in as a de facto centre forward. Early in the second half his yen for goals in circumstances such as this rose again as he thumped a header on target. Brad Friedel saved.

The scale of insults aimed at him fluctuated during the game from the kind of ordinary rudeness he might expect every week, via observations about his family’s misdemeanours, to some inevitable insinuations concerning his upcoming court appearance. But it was a measure of how Chelsea’s players responded that the Terry-ometer soon quietened down. Once his team drew level, the crowd felt compelled to acknowledge that a football match had broken out. It was one that would test the resources of Andre Villas-Boas’s team even more vigorously when Chelsea were forced to make two first-half substitutions.

Terry has plenty of previous when it comes to getting on with the job while extracurricular shenanigans shadow his every move. If anything, history shows he tends to use moments of adversity as fuel to his fire. There were match-winners for Chelsea after revelations about his liaison with Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend, and after his father made tabloid headlines for selling cocaine. There was a goal for his country after he missed a penalty in the Champions League final. There was a composed performance and clean sheet after he was stripped of the England captaincy.

Chelsea had their own version of the Liverpool T-shirt concept a couple of months ago, just after the allegations of racism were officially put under investigation. For the next game at Stamford Bridge, his club showed solidarity by making him the cover star of the match day programme against Arsenal.

Terry’s face peered out in typical pose: staunch, unswerving, never-say-die, with a poppy on his shirt just to emphasise the kind of proud British citizen he is.

The attention, the vilification, appeared to bring the best out of him that day, as Terry made one goal and scored another. But his day ended catastrophically as he watched helplessly as Robin van Persie left him behind to inflict a painful defeat on Chelsea.

And that is what appears to stick in his craw more than the worst from any loudmouth.