Terry tough enough to take taunts says Lampard

Frank Lampard said the verbal abuse directed at John Terry by Stoke fans during Chelsea’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win would make his club and England colleague all the stronger in a World Cup year.

Terry, 29, is still being taunted by opposition fans for his alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel – the ex-girlfriend of his former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.

The fall-out from the British press revelations led Fabio Capello to strip Terry of the England captaincy although the Italian manager stressed the centre-back remained part of his plans for this year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge saw Terry respond to the jeers by setting up the opening goal for Lampard before scoring the second with a header that sent holders Chelsea on their way to an FA Cup semi-final against another Premier League side, Aston Villa, at Wembley next month.

“Sometimes the abuse oversteps the mark,” said Lampard. “Strong players react in positive ways and that’s what John did. These things happen but we’ll just move on. That’s a good answer to it really.”

Terry celebrated his goal by making it clear he was still Chelsea’s captain – Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti has, unlike compatriot Capello, no problems with the defender in a leadership role – and said after the match: “I was just giving the Stoke fans a bit of banter. That was all.

“They were giving me a bit of stick and I was just giving a bit back and that is what football is about. They are entitled to do what they do and so am I on the pitch as long as they take it in the right manner. I am sure they did.

“You just get on with it as a player. One way to get through it is to play well and to score was the icing on the cake.

“It has been a good week. It was good to get away with England, play 90 minutes (in the 3-1 friendly win over Egypt at Wembley) and then come back here and show the fans how disappointed we were by how we played in the 4-2 defeat by Manchester City last week.”