Terry: Our spirit is strong as ever

Owner Roman Abramovich missed the 4-0 win at Hull because of "travel difficulties" but in his absence Kenyon and Buck led the congratulations for Avram Grant after he recorded his first win as manager since the departure of Jose Mourinho.

Doubts still persist, though, as to whether Grant will be in charge for the long-term, and Guus Hiddink claimed today that Abramovich had asked him whether he wanted to stay with Russia or preferred to join Chelsea.

Skipper Terry spoke publicly for the first time since Mourinho's departure after goals from Scott Sinclair, Salomon Kalou (two) and Steve Sidwell proved too much for Hull, and he admitted that "things have been difficult of late".

He added: "It was a great win and certainly well-needed as we hadn't won in four games.

"Hull is a tough place to come but we played well and scored goals which we had not been doing. We knew they would get in our faces for the first 15 minutes but we matched them and then our football did the talking.

"Things have been difficult of late but we have managed to pick ourselves up. We will do our best to maintain the team spirit throughout Chelsea. We will keep going. Manchester United was a very tough game but this is the right result just before the weekend game [against Fulham]."

Terry threw his shirt into the Chelsea section of the crowd at the KC Stadium after the game and spoke only of the importance of the club and did not talk directly about Grant.

Only 800 fans travelled north to support the Blues and they were vociferous in their support of Mourinho. Kenyon and Buck took on the duties of chief cheerleaders and they went into the dressing room within minutes of the final whistle.

The move was a clear sign to the Chelsea players that Grant has their backing. They spent nearly 20 minutes in the dressing-room area, and Buck said: "We wanted to offer our congratulations. It is a happier dressing room - of course it is. That is no surprise."

Asked if he had gone down to offer Grant and the players his congratulations, a beaming Kenyon said: "Of course".

But doubts will grow again today over Grant's position at Stamford Bridge after Hiddink's comments about his conversation with Abramovich.

The Dutchman is contracted to Russia until next year but Abramovich pays half of his £1.2million-a-year salary and introduced him to the Russian Football Federation.

Hiddink is reported to have said: "Abramovich asked me, 'What do you want?' I told him that right now I want to do nothing else except focus on Russia. I want to see this through now and then see what happens."