United’s joy inspires John Terry to end his own agony

Terry was stripped of the England captaincy in February because of revelations over his private life and there have also been questions over his form.

Yet Chelsea have a one-point lead over Manchester United and it would be particularly sweet for Terry if he gets his hands back on the Premier League trophy.

Because for all the Blues players to be haunted by United's success over the previous three years, the 29-year-old has suffered the most. The images of missing that penalty against United in the Champions League Final in Moscow never leave him, nor the sight of seeing Rio Ferdinand (right) and his team‑mates lift the League trophy every May since 2007.

Terry did not expect to be playing second fiddle to Sir Alex Ferguson's side after enjoying successive titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006.

So the centre-half admits he will still remember this year for all the right reasons if Chelsea finish the campaign on top. Terry, who played his 50th game of the season in the crucial 2-0 win at Liverpool on Sunday, said: "To play 50 games is a massive thing for me personally but more important is for me to get my hands on that trophy again.

"Three years without lifting it and sitting back on the final day of the season watching United celebrate has been tough.

"We had two years winning it when Jose was here so to go three years without it is unacceptable. We're probably our own worst critics. Once you have a taste of glory you want it year in, year out.

"We have probably not been at our best, we had a few injuries over the last couple years but this year we feel we have been as good as anyone in the League and deserve to be right up there."

Terry has taken criticism of his form personally since the furore surrounding his behaviour began dominating the headlines.

He was certainly not at his best when Chelsea lost League games to Everton, Manchester City and Tottenham, while he was also fallible in the Champions League defeat to Inter Milan.

However, he is only concerned with Chelsea being crowned champions at home to Wigan on Sunday. Terry added: "It's not about me personally, my form or anyone else's form, it's about Chelsea winning things and putting a smile on the fans' faces. If we can do that it makes us happy as a group of players."