Terry launches a strong defence of his form

JOHN TERRY has launched an impassioned defence of his much-criticised form as he prepares to lead his Chelsea side out at Liverpool this weekend on a potentially decisive afternoon in the title race.

The centre half, stripped of the England captaincy by Fabio Capello in February following revelations over his private life, has seen his every mistake scrutinised this term. There were high-profile errors against Everton and Manchester City, and a tackle on James Milner in the recent FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa which prompted a furious reaction from Martin O’Neill, before Terry was sent off for two bookable offences in Chelsea’s defeat at Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.

Yet the 29-year-old, who will return to the starting line-up for Sunday’s pivotal game at Anfield, insisted he was happy with his displays for club and country. “I’m totally fine with my form,” he said. “For England, I think my performances have been very good right through the campaign and, as for Chelsea, I missed one game through suspension against Stoke last week but I think my form is fine, contrary to what everyone else is saying.

“I’ve played in almost every game, apart from one in the Carling Cup away to Blackburn and the suspension last week. If I’m going to play 50 or 60 games I’m expected to have one, two or three bad games, that’s standard, you are not going to play well every game. Not even Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi can do that. It’s inevitable you have bad games, it’s all about how you respond. I think I’ve responded well.”

Chelsea are increasingly resigned to being without their regular holding midfielder, Mikel John Obi, through injury for the critical game at Liverpool with Michael Ballack expected to retain his place in the starting line-up.

Mikel sustained damage to his ankle and knee ligaments in a challenge from the Bolton striker Kevin Davies during Chelsea’s 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge this month.

The Nigerian’s absence could potentially be felt keenly at Anfield where he would have been in direct confrontation with Steven Gerrard, the main thrust of Liverpool’s attacks in the absence of the injured Fernando Torres.

The task of quelling the home captain is expected to fall on Ballack, who had little to do in the one-sided contest with Stoke. The Germany captain has played in the position before but it is not his preferred role, though he is likely to be given the nod ahead of both Branislav Ivanovic and the versatile Juliano Belletti.

Mikel should be fit to feature in the final fixture of the season, against Wigan Athletic on May 9th.

Ancelotti will at least have Deco and Yuri Zhirkov available for the trip after both recovered from a virus that had swept through the squad in the build-up to the Stoke game.

Bayern Munich have confirmed their intention to appeal against the three-match ban handed to Franck Ribery which is set to rule the Frenchman out of next month’s Champions League final.

Uefa hit the midfielder with the suspension yesterday following a meeting of the organisation’s control and disciplinary body.

Bayern will be without Ribery for the final against either Inter Milan in Madrid on May 22nd following his straight red card for a bad challenge on Lyon’s Lisandro Lopez during his side’s 1-0 win at the Allianz Arena last week.

Ribery has already served an automatic one-match suspension which forced him to miss his side’s 3-0 win in the return leg of the semi-final at Stade Gerland last night. Bayern had hoped Uefa would show leniency and cap Ribery’s ban at one game, but their appeal fell on deaf ears with the governing body taking a hardline stance.

Uefa confirmed Bayern have the right to appeal the decision within three days of receiving official notification of the ban, and the Bundesliga club wasted little time taking up the option.

“Uefa informed us of the decision, arguing that Franck Ribery was guilty (of serious foul play). We do not understand this decision in any way and consider it absolutely wrong,” read a Bayern statement.