John Terry admitted Brentford made it difficult for us at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but felt once we were ahead there would be only one winner.
It took 54 minutes for Juan Mata to give us the advantage against our League One opposition for the first time in the FA Cup fourth round tie, having twice come from behind at Griffin Park to force a replay, but further goals were added by Oscar, Frank Lampard and Terry himself to put the gloss on a victory that sets us up with a trip to Middlesbrough in the fifth round.
‘In the first half they made it very difficult actually, and they sat very deep, but once the first one came, the second and third were sure to come,’ said the 32-year-old.
‘I’ve got a good scoring record in the FA Cup so it’s good to get on the scoresheet and it’s good to be back playing because every player wants to play.’
There were reports in Sunday’s press that Terry had fallen out with interim manager Rafa Benitez in recent weeks, with the defender being left on the bench for the past couple of games, which Benitez had put down to a lack of match fitness. Terry was keen to set the record straight.
‘There are stories in the paper but it’s lazy journalism,’ he said. ‘The manager knows me, I want to play, but I’ve been out for three or four months. The other two have been doing well and there’s good competition in the side. We’ll all fight for it, with no complaints from me.’
Now we revert our attention back to the Europa League, with Thursday’s second leg against Sparta Prague to come at the Bridge. After three straight wins, Terry feels we are moving in the right direction.
‘We just keep plugging away,’ said the captain. ‘We’ve had a couple of wins in three different competitions. We’ve another game on Thursday and the aim is to keep progressing in every competition.’
The video above is a clip from Terry’s post-match interview with Chelsea TV. It is available to view in full now with an online subscription.