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Wayne Bridge will have showdown talks over his England future this week.
England boss Fabio Capello’s assistant Franco Baldini intends to talk to Bridge after details of John Terry’s affair with his former team-mate’s affair emerged.
England captain Terry is coming under increasing pressure to stand down after it was revealed he had an affair with Bridge’s former partner, Vanessa Perroncel.
Baldini and Capello want to discover Bridge’s state of mind and whether Terry’s affair could cause a rift in the dressing room, and the talks could go a long way to deciding whether the captain can carry on.
Bridge to have showdown England talks this week
Wayne Bridge will have showdown talks over his England future this week.
England boss Fabio Capello’s assistant Franco Baldini intends to talk to Bridge after details of John Terry’s affair with his former team-mate’s affair emerged.
England captain Terry is coming under increasing pressure to stand down after it was revealed he had an affair with Bridge’s former partner, Vanessa Perroncel.
Baldini and Capello want to discover Bridge’s state of mind and whether Terry’s affair could cause a rift in the dressing room, and the talks could go a long way to deciding whether the captain can carry on.
That is their biggest concern ahead of this summer’s World Cup finals as Bridge is widely expected to be England’s back-up left-back to Ashley Cole.
Capello is still in Italy recovering after a knee replacement operation but Baldini is in England and both are monitoring developments closely after more revelations about Terry’s affair emerged over the weekend.
They were a source of more embarrassment to the FA's top brass who want the captain to be a good role model, and there is pressure on Capello to remove Terry as captain.
But the FA insisted publicly yesterday that it would not make any comment and the matter and any decision over the captaincy was down to Capello.
Terry was last night boosted by Carlo Ancelotti's unflinching support as the Chelsea boss claimed: "I'm honoured and proud to manage him."
Ancelotti could not be more resolute in his backing for his captain in the wake of the sensational revelations about his affair with England colleague Bridge's
ex-partner.
The Italian insisted that everyone at Stamford Bridge was behind Terry and dismissed any suggestion that some players were upset by his conduct.
"John has his private life and he has to control his private life," he said. "I have to control my team. He is a player in my team. He is the captain of this team and I am honoured and very proud to manage John Terry.
"He's the captain and he will be the captain. The players have never lost trust in him.
"I think not only the players, but the management and everyone at the club support him and his family."
Ancelotti sees no reason to take Terry out of the firing line and says the England skipper will lead the Blues out at Hull tomorrow when he will be under intense scrutiny again.
He insists it is business as usual at Chelsea and feels he does not need to speak to Terry about what has happened.
Ancelotti knows how vital Terry is to Chelsea's pursuit of honours and hailed his late winner at Burnley as "the most important goal of the season".
"He will play on Tuesday at Hull," he said. "He's a fantastic player. Every game he plays, he plays very well for us.
"You saw that against Burnley. It was a difficult game, even more difficult in the second half. He was very important and scored a very important goal for us.
"It was a fantastic goal, which maybe could be the most important goal of the season."
Manchester City left-back Bridge is said to be “in bits" over the affair between his ex-partner and one of his closest friends and it has divided players and opinion at England level.
But it is understood that the Chelsea players confronted Terry about the affair last Monday as details leaked out before the press injunction was lifted.
Terry is believed to have denied the affair at first to his team-mates but even now, while his team-mates say he is “out of order”, he still has the support of the Chelsea dressing room.
It could potentially be more of an issue at international level with Bridge considering his England future, although he is waiting to see how the dust settles in the next few days.
