John Terry calls for Chelsea focus

Chelsea captain John Terry, driven not only by his manager’s passion for trophies but also by his own desperation to extend his career for at least one more year, has called for total focus from the club’s Capital One Cup winners as the season’s real target — the Premier League title — now comes into view.

Beating London rivals Tottenham at Wembley on Sunday was significant in the development of Jose Mourinho’s latest team — it was their first piece of silverware together in his second spell at Stamford Bridge — but there is no doubt it was only the starter in what Chelsea hope will be a three-course meal.

The next target, before the Champions League dessert, is the Premier League — a trophy that hasn’t been seen in West London since 2010 — and bookmakers already have Chelsea as short as 1/10 to lift it in May.

So that makes a tricky trip to West Ham tomorrow undeniably important.

“There are no celebrations now, nothing,” insisted Terry, who scored the opening goal against Tottenham to lift the 13th trophy of his career (not including Community Shields). “We report for training and kick on straight away to Wednesday.

“I loved winning a trophy again, I loved playing at Wembley in a big final, it was nice to get my first goal in a major final — and even more important was to get our first trophy together.

“But now we want it to be a springboard, like it was when the manager arrived in 2004/05. It had that affect then and hopefully it does now.”

Chelsea go into the West Ham match five points ahead of Manchester City with a game in hand after their rivals lost at Anfield at the weekend, and the opportunity is there for Chelsea to make themselves uncatchable.

“We were delighted to see City lose points,” admitted Terry. “But now we go again and it’s another tough one. It’s a derby and we want the three points. The Premier League has always been our big focus.”

Watching Terry lift a trophy again at Wembley, however, stirred something in the souls of most Chelsea fans; the defender may have had his problems off the pitch where his reputation is forever tainted, but his performances over the last year have earned him the grudging respect of even his harshest critics.

At the age of 34, he has already won three Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League; and as talks continue over whether to offer him a one-year extension to his contract this June — it’s a formality — his passion for winning remains a hugely important part of Chelsea’s make-up.

“The manager has come in, sat me down, and made it clear if you work hard you will get extra years and you will play, but if not, there are others players who are younger who can play and will fight for their place.

“I am fighting for my future, for my family’s future and I want to give it everything.”

In the meantime, Mourinho is slowly building a side that can feed off Terry’s passion and experience and absorb it in time for his inevitable long-term departure. Branislav Ivanovic, 31, already embodies everything that Terry offers the team, and Gary Cahill, Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic, Ramires and Azpilicueta — who played most of Sunday’s final with a bandaged head wound — all display enough of the Chelsea spirit to suggest the team’s mentality is future-proofed.

“We are developing well,” said Mourinho. “The game we played against Tottenham was a game of a very mature team, which in terms of age we are not. I like this.

“The title and the top four is not only in our hands — it is the in hands of everyone because we have lots of difficult matches. We know about City, about Arsenal. United are in the race still. And Liverpool is building a fantastic team. There are 12 matches to play and we need to focus.”

You can be pretty certain that Chelsea will do exactly that, especially if Terry has anything to do with it.

“I don’t know how long I have left,” he said, reflecting on his career and his wait for a new contract.