Terry will make his first public appearance on Saturday since video footage emerged of an altercation between him and QPR defender Ferdinand during Sunday's west London derby. Blues captain Terry will lead his side out in their crunch Premier League clash against Arsenal with Football Association and police inquiries still hanging over him. The 30-year-old has categorically denied using a racist slur against Ferdinand, and unless evidence or witnesses emerge suggesting he did, he is unlikely to face any action. Several of Terry's Chelsea team-mates might also be in a position to back up his version of events and Villas-Boas yesterday revealed the whole squad was united behind their skipper. "All of the players have been quiet about it because we know what happened," he said. "Nothing happened, so there is nothing to discuss." Even if Terry is exonerated, Chelsea's rival supporters are likely to make him a target of their abuse in the coming weeks but Villas-Boas was confident he would not suffer "any more" than usual. The club have refused to confirm whether Terry has been interviewed by the FA but Ferdinand has spoken to them, according to QPR boss Neil Warnock. "Anton has spoken about the situation - with me and the FA," he said. "I'm sure the powers that be will come up with a decision when they have spoken to all the witnesses." It is understood Ferdinand does not recall any exchange with Terry in which he accused the England captain of racially abusing him, something the latter claimed prompted him to respond with a denial which included the same language. The race row is the latest controversy to befall Terry but Villas-Boas, who arrived at Chelsea this summer with a demand for his players to be role models, insisted his skipper was a good one. "He is England captain, the captain of your team and of your country," he said. "You should be proud." He added: "All of us have our ups and downs in the past. "I have had mine in the Premier League, and all of you are the same, so I think all of us want to become better people with better values." Villas-Boas questioned the fevered speculation about the outcome of the race row. "Speculation around a negative situation is something that disappoints us in some way, that you can sustain a couple of things based on speculation. "It's tremendously serious, but that doesn't mean it's not speculation, or a big misunderstanding." Warnock admitted such a furore was inevitable. "You have to sell newspapers and say what the news is," said the Rangers boss, who had to deal with the fallout from Joey Barton's spat with Karl Henry earlier this season. "Anything involving major players is always a talking point. "I've never known anything like Henry-Barton and they are not even top England players. "That week, everything was written about them - TV programmes, debates, you name it. You get used to it."
