Although Terry has remained silent about the alleged affair with Wayne Bridge's former girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel, which cost him the England captaincy and a long-time friendship, he felt Bellamy's attack after Chelsea's 4-2 defeat to Manchester City yesterday was a step too far.

Given his own chequered past, Bellamy knew he was leaving himself open to a counter punch when he claimed: "Everybody in football knows what the guy is like. But that is off the field."

And while Terry is clearly not in the mood for an in-depth discussion about their respective personal lives, he felt Bellamy's snide comment could not go unchallenged.

"People in glass houses should not throw stones," retorted the Chelsea captain.

Given the bad blood that so obviously now exists between Terry and certain members of the City squad, it is probably just as well Roberto Mancini's men did not book a return visit to Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup next week.

That was the prize on offer in their replay with Stoke last Wednesday but it is now the Potteries outfit, minus Ryan Shawcross, who will slug it out for a place in the semi-finals.

Terry is probably wise to keep his comments to a minimum, although even the merest hint of criticism aimed at their hero seems to upset the Chelsea faithful.

After declaring there was no chance Terry will captain England again, Fabio Capello would presumably get jeered.

There can be no other explanation for Bridge - a former Chelsea player - being so mercilessly booed after the most famous handshake snub football has ever known.

"I don't know why the crowd reacted the way it did," said a bemused Shay Given. "I don't see what he has done wrong."

It is a fairly poor state of affairs if an alleged dalliance between the mother of your son and a one-time close friend, followed by a personal decision to step down for World Cup duty to benefit England as a whole results in jeers.

That is what happened though. And now that it has, Gareth Barry, a team-mate for both club and country, has called for some understanding.

"Of course, I am sad to see Wayne has pulled out of the England squad," said the midfielder.

"He is a great player and would improve the squad and team when he plays. But like many other people have said I respect his decision.

"You can't imagine yourself in that position and what you'd do unless it happens to you.

"Being the person Wayne is, he didn't want to rub anything in.

"He used to play for Chelsea, he kept his emotions to himself and his performance was brilliant."

Not that Barry believes any sympathy for Bridge will stop Terry's England team-mates giving their best for the Three Lions.

"It's personal issues and as professionals you have to put it aside, once we are together it will all be forgotten and we will try to win a game of football because that is what it is all about," he said.

Once Wednesday's friendly with Egypt is out of the way, Capello is intent on persuading Bridge to do reverse his decision.

In the meantime, the Italian might take some time to lift the spirits of Terry who, after initially responding with fortitude to the maelstrom that erupted around him, has now suffered a major form dip.

Carlo Ancelotti absolved Terry from any blame for yesterday's debacle, although as he did the same for goalkeeper Hilario, that is not necessarily an accurate reflection of events.

At best, the defender's performances are lacking conviction, which given leading from the front is such an integral part of his game, is a fairly significant drawback.

If that was Ancelotti's only problem, he could get away with emerging from a game in which his side surrendered an early lead, a 37-match unbeaten record, and two of their players to red cards, by citing Chelsea's single-point advantage over Manchester United as reason enough to be cheerful.

But there are a few others, that go far beyond the fact that Arsenal, now just one win adrift, have a significantly easier run-in to negotiate.

"We have to maintain trust in our quality," said Ancelotti.

"We knew how important this match was but we didn't play well. We have to avoid these kind of mistakes in the future."