England defender John Terry is confident Chelsea can bounce back from their FA Cup defeat to Arsenal and beat the Gunners in next weekend’s Premiership rematch.
Arsenal’s 2-1 fifth-round win at Highbury ensured Chelsea have now been eliminated from the competition by the Gunners over four consecutive seasons.
Jose Reyes, Arsenal’s £17-million striker, scored two glorious goals to kill off Chelsea after Adrian Mutu had given the Blues the lead.
Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri admitted his team ”lost the plot” in the second half as they allowed their lead to slip away.
But even though Thierry Henry should be back when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge in the league next Saturday, Terry insists Chelsea will come out fighting.
”We will get that defeat out of our system in 24 hours and it is not a problem from our point of view,” declared the Chelsea vice-captain.
”They are a great side and we have got great respect for them, but at the same time, we showed in this Cup tie that we can be as good as them, if not better.
”We went 1-0 up and it is a huge disappointment not to come away with a win as we felt it was our year.
”When they come to Stamford Bridge, it is going to be a tough game — but hopefully we can get the three points.”
Despite the latest reverse at the hands of Arsene Wenger’s men, Ranieri remains focused on getting the upper hand over his London rivals for the first time.
”I don’t know how to beat Arsenal, but we shall carry on trying,” he admitted.
”We have another match against them next Saturday and I hope this is not a mental problem.
”I am curious to speak to my players to find out what happened, but I didn’t speak to them after the game.
”I shall probably wait until after the international break because if I do it now they might forget it.”
Chelsea certainly held their own in a fiery opening spell as tackles flew in from all angles, with Terry and Scott Parker leading by example.
They were unfortunate not to take the lead when Jesper Gronkjaer was flagged offside as he headed home a cross by Frank Lampard.
However, Mutu did put them ahead on 40 minutes when he twisted past Kolo Toure and crashed his shot into the far corner after Jens Lehmann’s weak clearance had been intercepted by Parker.
Arsenal remained undaunted and when Reyes was given time and space in which to compose himself amid the mayhem, he eclipsed Mutu’s fine strike with a thunderbolt from 25m on 56 minutes.
The Spain international visibly grew in confidence from that moment, capitalising on Patrick Vieira’s ball to beat replacement goalkeeper Neil Sullivan just five minutes later and net his second.
”It’s the best feeling in the world,” declared Reyes. ”To score two goals to qualify for the next round of the FA Cup is wonderful.”
Whether Reyes starts next Saturday’s game, with Henry expected back after a foot injury, remains to be seen — but league leaders Arsenal will be up for the challenge of defending their five-point advantage.
Vieira insisted: ”It was quite important for us to win as our self-belief is a bit more than theirs now.
”We expect another difficult game next weekend, but we will be ready for it.” — Sapa-AFP