The newspapers have been full of stories about John Terry over the past few days yet the former England captain put all of the paper talk behind him as he put in a solid display in the Blues’ 6-0 win over Wolves on Tuesday evening. Following on from that comprehensive result, assistant manager Eddie Newton claims that the defender will definitely play against Arsenal at the weekend as long as he does not incur an FA ban.

Even though Terry has been the subject of a full disciplinary hearing at the FA’s headquarters over the past couple of days, it didn’t stop him from playing a key role in the comfortable Carling Cup victory on Tuesday. JT looked as commanding as ever and while Wolves really posed little threat, he seemed to play without a care in the world.

According to Newton, it’s this attitude which has put the defender right into contention for the Arsenal encounter on Saturday. He said, “We were talking with John to see what his mindset is and he’s been very positive. We wanted John to play but with everything that’s happening at the FA, we had to see how things panned out. We got a phone call to say he was on his way back from the FA nice and early, so it wasn’t last minute.com. So it was an easy selection process. It’s not difficult preparing for Saturday.”

Of course, there is still a chance that JT won’t be available for selection at the weekend. It is assumed that his hearing is set to conclude any day and considering the stricter nature of the FA’s policies, there is an increased chance of him being convicted of his alleged offence than there was in his trial during the summer. If he is found guilty, he is almost certainly going to have to serve some sort of suspension.