ON TOUR: TERRY - FINE MALAYSIAN MEMORIES

 

It is eight years since John Terry played at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, and the Chelsea captain is looking forward to appearing once more at Malaysia's premier football venue.

An 80,000 crowd is expected to see us take on a Malaysia XI on Thursday, and Terry is anticipating a tough workout in warm conditions. Having trained at the stadium for the last couple of days, heat and humidity is certainly expected.

'Training has been hard, we've had some sessions in the heat, and it really gets you in the throat,' said the 30-year-old. 'You make a 10-yard run and it takes you a few minutes to recover from it, but hopefully once we are back home this will have done us the world of good and we'll have a lot of fitness that we wouldn't have after adapting to this weather here.

'The manager is very intelligent and he makes the training very interesting for the players and always has an emphasis on something, you're not just training for the sake of it, there is a purpose behind it regardless of what you do. He has been really good so far and has brought a lot of fresh new ideas in and if we follow them we will be okay.'

Back in 2003, Terry was stand-in captain at the Bukit Jalil, covering for the absent Marcel Desailly, and lifted the Barclays Asia Trophy after a penalty shootout victory over Newcastle.

It was the first success of many for the man who became full-time skipper a year later, going on to lift three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and two Carling Cups since 2005.

'We all joked about it at the time saying it was our first trophy and this was the start of it, but looking back it really had some importance for us. That feeling of winning, regardless of what the trophy is, is so good and we wanted it more after that and we've obviously gone and won a lot more.

'It was a great time, the signings we were making and adding to the squad were fantastic, and as I said before the fans were great. They all seem to love Chelsea here and it doesn't come much better than that, when you can see what it means to them. It really does put a smile on our faces.

'It's a great stadium too, I think it's pretty much a sell-out already, and we'll be looking to put a good show on for all the Malaysian fans - they always create such a good atmosphere and I remember that from playing here three years ago too.'

Manager Andre Villas-Boas has already outlines his plans for the game, indicating two line-ups will be used for 45 minutes each, as was done in pre-tour matches against Wycombe Wanderers and Portsmouth back in England.

That should mean more minutes on the pitch for the youngsters who have accompanied the first-teamers on the trip, and Terry has been watching them closely.

'Josh McEachran has been here for ages and is brilliant, Daniel Sturridge has come back looking really sharp and full of confidence after his time at Bolton, and Nathaniel, Jamal and Billy Clifford are here too, they've had good pre-seasons and this is a chance for them to cement their place in the manager's mind as well,' he said.

The game starts at 8.45pm local time (1.45pm in the UK), with live and exclusive coverage on Chelsea TV.

Source: clheseafc.com