Speculation over disharmony within the Chelsea camp has been rife following claims captain John Terry and fellow England international Frank Lampard confronted coach Luiz Felipe Scolari over his training methods.

The pair were reported to have asked Scolari to increase the intensity in training because the players felt it had become too laid back and repetitive and that was transmitting itself in games.

Since then the club's Brazilian defender Alex announced he had told Chelsea he wants to leave although the Blues insist no transfer request has been received from any player.

But Wilkins, preparing his side for the clash with London rivals West Ham at Stamford Bridge, dismissed talk of 'cliques' within the camp.

"We have got such a close-knit bunch of guys so where all this comes from I do not know," said Wilkins.

"Players always have discussions with managers, if you don't have dialogue in any walk of like then you will have a problem.

"Managers nowadays are extremely open-minded to players talking to them. So it really is no problem at all. We are extremely close here. I think some of our performances, both home and away, have displayed that

"I wasn't privy to the meeting so I don't really know what they were talking about. They might have been discussing the Christmas Party.

"It certainly has not interfered with the running of the club because it is going swimmingly well."

But while the management are happy for players to talk, Wilkins made it clear they have no sway when it comes to team selection or tactics.

"Felipe is the coach and he will decide how the team plays, it doesn't really matter what the players want," said Wilkins.

"Players are at any football club to play and if you are fortunate enough to be selected then all well and good.

"We believe we have to train as we play, at that intensity. Obviously we won't train for 90 minutes non-stop, so there will be breaks, but once it is up and running it is training at very high-intensity."

Chelsea will welcome back former playing heroes, Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke, to the Bridge on Sunday with Wilkins delighted that the Italian has gone into management.

But Wilkins has also tipped current captain Terry to stay in the game once his playing career is over.

"I did speak to John about that a couple of months ago because the coaching badges situation creeps in now, and I think he would love to stay in the game," said Wilkins.

"He will start taking his badges pretty shortly and if he does decide that's what he wants to do, he will be pretty successful at it.

"He has a very strong character and knows the game. He has worked under some wonderful coaches and managers and he will take snippets from everybody if he decides to go down that route."