A quiet night out with a few close friends sounds harmless enough. But it seems, even one month on, Ashley Cole's infidelity remains firmly etched on his mind.

The Chelsea star pulled the plug on an evening out at the weekend over fears he might attract unwanted female attention and further upset his wife Cheryl.

The 27-year-old Chelsea and England defender told pals at the last minute that he didn't want to risk losing Cheryl's trust by going out, preferring instead to stay in, have a few drinks and play his PlayStation.

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Staying in: Ashley Cole, here in London last week, apparently cancelled his plans for a boys night out, for fear attention from his female fans would upset wife Cheryl, seen on Sunday night in London

A source said: "Ashley called at the last minute to say that he had changed his mind. He didn't go into too much detail on the phone but told them all to come over to his pad for a boys night in.

...but wife Cheryl recently enjoyed a night out with the girls

"It's not like Ashley to pull the plug on an evening out, but he got cold feet when the realisation hit that he could be faced with girls trying to talk to him and he didn't want to be put in that position.

"All the boys were happy to go to his house to chill but they noticed that, although he was fairly bubbly like before, they could tell that recent events were still praying on his mind."

Last month, Ashley was caught cheating on his wife Cheryl with hairdresser Aimee Walton, 22, during a boozy night out with friends.

Heartbroken, Cheryl, 24, left the marital home in Oxshott, Surrey, and took a winter break with bandmates Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts to Thailand in a desperate bid to escape the furore surrounding her marriage.

After weeks of anguish, Cheryl decided to give Ashley a second chance.

The source added: "Ashley was pleased that he stayed home because then he was able to relax.

"He was just one of the lads again without worrying about people staring at him and making him feel uneasy. They played music, chatted and just generally had a lot of fun."

But Ashley's reclusive nature hasn't extended to Cheryl. She made the most of her weekend by joining her Girls Aloud bandmates for a boozy Saturday evening at London's Burlington club.

She helped bandmate Kimberley Walsh's sister Amy celebrate her 21st.