Fans urge Terry to fight for Frank

John Terry was yesterday urged by hundreds of Chelsea fans to try to talk Roman Abramovich into giving Frank Lampard a new contract after revealing his own devastation at his team-mate’s impending departure.

Blues captain Terry was bombarded with messages from worried supporters following a posting on his Instagram account in which he also urged the club to retire Lampard’s jersey once the midfielder leaves Stamford Bridge.

With no sign of Chelsea offering Lampard a new deal, that is currently set to be this summer, a state of affairs which has clearly upset his team-mate of almost 12 years.

Yesterday saw Terry post a picture on his Instagram account of him and Lampard holding the FA Cup, accompanied by the comment: “Devastated is an understatement. We should retire the number 8 shirt in honour of Lamps.”

The posting was later removed, with Terry adding another picture of Lampard, this time holding the Champions League.

It was accompanied by a comment explaining he had been reacting to quotes attributed to Lampard’s agent, Steve Kutner, in the Italian media in which he reportedly said the midfielder would definitely be leaving Stamford Bridge this summer.

Kutner has since denied giving any such interview.

Terry wrote: “I have seen Frank’s agent’s quotes on Sky yesterday. That’s all I’m going on nothing more.”

However, that failed to stem the tide of fan response, which focused mainly on asking Terry to use his position to convince Chelsea owner Abramovich and the board to think again.

But barring a dramatic U-turn by Chelsea, Lampard will have to find himself a new club next season and he is now free to sign a pre-contract with a foreign team at any time.

Interim manager Rafael Benitez reiterated yesterday that Terry was reacting to quotes that had since been called into question.

He added of Lampard: “It’s the same situation that we had before. He’s a player that is fully committed, he’s under contract, he’s working hard in every training session, every game, and we will try to bring the best from him. That’s it.”

Benitez also hit out at this week’s attacks on his rotation policy, declaring: “You cannot be criticised and praised for the same thing.” Wednesday night’s shock home defeat by QPR saw interim boss Benitez come under heavy fire for resting several of his key players.

But the Spaniard had no regrets about his decision to omit the likes of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Ashley Cole in the 1-0 Premier League loss, despite it leaving Chelsea 14 points adrift in the title race.

Benitez, who drew praise during his first month in charge for the way he had managed the workload of his squad, said: “You cannot be criticised and praised for the same thing.

“Rotating players because we were playing so many games was really good.

“We had more players, we could use the squad and, after one game, they were saying, ‘Oh, you were changing players’.

“We know how the players are, we know the level of our players, and we trust our players.’’ Benitez, who employed a similar policy while in charge of Liverpool, denied he had taken it too far on Wednesday. And the Spaniard insisted a similar degree of rotation would continue while he remained at Chelsea.

“Yeah, if it’s necessary,” he said. “They couldn’t keep playing games and games because the risk of injuries and tiredness is there.’’

Benitez also denied his decision was motivated by a desire to place winning the FA Cup and Capital One Cup ahead of a Premier League title challenge.

The 52-year-old, who spoke about his eagerness to win trophies upon his interim appointment, said: “We will try to win every game.

“I cannot come here to every press conference and explain the situation of each player in detail.”

He was also coy about how “strong” a side he would put out in today’s FA Cup third-round tie at Southampton.

He said: “My strongest team? Maybe it depends for you on the names. For me, it depends on the moment of the players, how they feel every game.

“We will try win every competition until the end of the season.”

Benitez’s side could include Demba Ba and the new signing declared there was no comparison between Chelsea and Newcastle — or West Ham — after completing his move to the European champions yesterday

He said: “This club is at another level – it isn’t West Ham or Newcastle. They are both big clubs with a strong history, but Chelsea is Chelsea and you cannot compare.’’

For his part, Southampton boss Nigel Adkins believes his side can dethrone the FA Cup champions.

He said: “We want to win the game. We want to go on a cup run – it’s the FA Cup and we’re taking it seriously.’’