Terry character shines through

Midfielder Joe Cole praised John Terry for his character as the Chelsea FC captain prepared for tonight's UEFA Champions League showdown with Valencia CF only four days after fracturing his right cheekbone.

'Very important'
Terry suffered the injury in the goalless draw with Fulham FC on Saturday and, after an operation on Sunday morning, was back in training at the Mestalla last night wearing a protective face mask. Terry was his usual vocal self as Chelsea limbered up, and Cole admitted his inclusion would come as a boost to a team going through a difficult period. "He's very important to us," Cole said. "He's the captain and on and off the pitch, he's our leader. He's shown his character by his willingness to play even though he had an operation only two days ago."

Lampard out
Chelsea's medical team will make a late decision on whether Terry plays, and new manager Avram Grant drew strength from his captain's example. "He wants to play, which is good for us," Grant said. Chelsea will also welcome back Didier Drogba, who missed the 1-1 draw with Rosenborg BK on Matchday 1, and Michael Essien could play a part after sitting out the Fulham match with a leg problem, but Frank Lampard is still out.

Forward thinking
After twice reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League under José Mourinho, Chelsea face their first game in the competition under Grant and Cole feels it is time to "move on". The England international said: "The club was very successful under José Mourinho but in football things move on and we want to draw a line under that now and move forward. Obviously things don't run completely smoothly when there is any change of manager but all we want to do now is move forward, win things and keep going."

Winning mentality
Chelsea were dramatic winners here in the quarter-finals of last season's competition in April, but Cole insisted that result would have no bearing on Wednesday's match: "No two games are the same. It's a different year and a different team. We just need to go out and get the three points. We've only got one on the board in the competition so far so this is a game we mustn't lose - but our aim is to go out and win."