Gary Cahill backs Chelsea captain John Terry to put turbulent summer behind him

Clean cut?: John Terry leaves court having been found not guilty of racism. But he still has questions to answer and now football is in the dock (AFP/Getty Images)

Gary Cahill has backed Chelsea team-mate and captain John Terry to put his turbulent summer behind him when the new season kicks off next month.

Terry was last week cleared of a racially aggravated public order offence over his clash with QPR defender Anton Ferdinand last October.

In the build-up to the trail at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Terry was stripped of the England captaincy for the second time in his career, leading to the resignation of then coach Fabio Capello.

Terry first lost the national team armband following allegations about his personal life, but Cahill believes he will bounce back from this summer's upheavals as well as he did on that occasion.

"When he comes back from holiday all of this will be put behind him," said Cahill, quoted in several national newspapers. "I don't think this will affect him in any way.

"John has gone through loads of stuff in his career but the character he is, he just seems to steamroller over it all and motor on.

"John was one of England's best players at the Euros this summer. The defence looked really solid. They did really well."

Cahill, 26, was forced to watch the championship from home after fracturing his jaw when he collided with keeper Joe Hart during a warm-up friendly against Belgium.

"It was horrible," he said. "You could see everyone lining up and singing the national anthem. I thought I should have been a part of it. The whole thing was a nightmare."

Defensive colleagues Terry and Cahill will now shift their focus to helping Chelsea build on last season's Champions League triumph while improving on a disappointing Barclays Premier League campaign.

"We could have competed in the league better," said Cahill. "That will certainly be the aim. The obvious problem was consistency, there were some dodgy results.

"It is a question of ironing those problems out. We know we have the players to compete."

PA