John Terry praises Chelsea's senior players for keeping club at top

John Terry has praised a core clique of senior players at Chelsea for maintaining focus and providing a key level of stability over the last few years of managerial upheaval at the club. Carlo Ancelotti is the fifth manager to be in charge at Stamford Bridge since September 2007, following on from José Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Guus Hiddink in the role. The only silverware won by Chelsea during that turbulent period has been last season's FA Cup, won during Hiddink's brief reign as a stopgap appointment, yet the team have consistently challenged for honours and Chelsea now lead the Premier League as they attempt to regain the title they last claimed in 2006. "It has been a test for me, but I think I have dealt with it, and not only me," Terry told Chelsea TV. "People like Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they deserve real credit because people hear about me but they don't tend to hear about Lamps and Didier behind the scenes. I can tell people that they are great and it is really important I have got their backing because we have had so many managers over the last few years. "It was important that myself and Didier and Lamps kept everyone together and said: 'Listen, as long as we keep doing our job, we are going to have the fans there supporting us.' That is what matters, Chelsea Football Club, not the manager, not the players because one day we won't be here and it is important we keep the players going and keep the belief in our club to go on and win trophies." Talks between the club's hierarchy and another of those key first-team players, the England midfielder Joe Cole, over a new deal remain ongoing though the parties are at odds over the terms that would extend his seven-year stay in south-west London. Chelsea's chief executive, Ron Gourlay, recently suggested the club would seek to "control expenses, including salaries and wages" as they attempt to reduce annual losses, registered at £44.4m in the latest accounts. The 28-year-old's current deal expires at the end of the season but, while he is technically now able to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club, Cole has consistently stated that it is his intention to remain at Chelsea. The club will learn later this week how much they must pay Manchester City in compensation for the forward Daniel Sturridge, who controversially moved to Chelsea last summer after rejecting the chance to remain at Eastlands. The 20-year-old scored his first goals for his new club in this month's FA Cup third-round tie against Watford, with City seeking up to £8m for his services. Chelsea expect the fee, to be decided by a tribunal due to sit this week, to be significantly less.