Cup final split highlights Grant's struggle to keep squad happy

The fallout from Chelsea's Carling Cup final defeat to Tottenham hinted at disquiet in the camp when it emerged that the players who were not involved in the match were not invited to stay at the team's pre-match hotel. Ashley Cole, Andrei Shevchenko and Florent Malouda were among those who were told on Friday that they could go to the game independently.

Cup final tradition dictates that the squad would usually stay together the night before the match and Chelsea were based at the Landmark hotel in Marylebone, central London. However, those who were not named by the manager Avram Grant in the preliminary squad on Friday, who trained again on Saturday, were told by the club that they could simply report to Wembley to watch the game on Sunday.

With senior figures like Ashley Cole and Shevchenko left out the squad as well as others such as Steven Sidwell, Paulo Ferreira and Claudio Pizarro, it meant that many of Grant's players felt no involvement in the build-up to the match. Some of them came on to the pitch after the game, but the decision to leave them behind has not eased the tensions in a squad that is proving impossible for Grant to keep happy.

Grant said on Friday he already knew the starting XI in his head and would tell the players "after the training tomorrow [Saturday]" but he delayed until the day of the game – as has been his custom this season. It was only on Sunday, the day of the game, that Grant announced to his players he was to drop Michael Ballack and Alex for John Terry and Frank Lampard.

His decision to play Nicolas Anelka as a left-winger backfired, with the Frenchman a peripheral figure. Terry defended Grant's selection policy after the game. "The manager keeps it all close to his chest," he said. "None of us knew until Sunday, and that is how it has been in every game. So there was no change or excuse. It keeps everyone on their toes – and as a group of players, we have to deal with it."

Terry added: "We have to pick ourselves up. It is the last thing the players want to hear – my voice saying we need to pick ourselves up – but we need to. We are still in three competitions. The Premier League is not over. Then we have the Champions League and the FA Cup. We can dwell on it and get knocked out of another competition, or we take this defeat and and go again. The determination and will to win is still there."

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