Chelsea back John Terry over newspaper allegations

Terry played in Sunday's 1-1 draw against West Ham

Chelsea have defended captain John Terry over claims he knew of secret cash payments for a behind-the-scenes tour of the club's training ground.

The News of the World alleged Terry was present when a middleman accepted £10,000 only yards from manager Carlo Ancelotti at the Cobham venue.

But Ancelotti said of the 29-year-old: "This is not correct. This is not true.

"The club, me, the players, have a lot of confidence in John Terry and John Terry did nothing wrong."

The newspaper alleged that England captain Terry was present when £10,000 was handed over in cash and and wanted £8,000 of it to go to a children's charity, with the other £2,000 going to the middleman.

When asked whether Terry had told him the story was not true, Ancelotti replied: "Yes. I have a lot of confidence in my captain."

Ancelotti also added that Terry had been "very quiet, very calm, very concentrated for the game" ahead of Chelsea's 1-1 draw with West Ham on Sunday.

Chelsea had earlier issued a statement defending Terry.

"Chelsea FC host a large number of visitors at the training ground throughout the year, the majority of which are made up of club sponsors, our charity partners and supporters," it read.

"The players play a big part in these visits and John Terry naturally has a leading role, hosting a significant number of children and their families this season through our partner charities.

"John has also organised a number of visits for families with sick children as a result of personal correspondence.

"Contrary to media reports and the appearance of edited video [on the News of the World website] this morning, the club is confident that at no time did Terry ask for or accept money in relation to visits to the training ground."

The statement on Sunday afternoon said Chelsea "gives our players room to exercise their own discretion when contacted personally with regard to visits and the club keeps security and access to the training ground under constant review.

"However, as a result of the security breach highlighted by today's article we will be further reviewing access to our facilities and clamping down where there are gaps in the process."