28/07/2008 11:49 AM
John Terry wants to put his Moscow misery behind him as Chelsea prepares to return to the city where it suffered its most painful defeat.
The Blues captain, 27, still cannot bring himself to watch the video of last season's Champions League final, where a slip caused him to miss what would have been the winning kick in the penalty shootout defeat to Manchester United.
But he has managed to put what happened on that historic night at the Luzhniki Stadium into some kind of perspective, insisting he still has many more opportunities to win club football's biggest prize.
After tomorrow's pre-season friendly against a Malaysia All-Stars XI in Kuala Lumpur, the next stage of the healing process is Friday's match against Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian capital.
"Now we can put what happened in Moscow to bed. This is a new season and here we go again," Terry said.
"We have made some great signings. With players like Deco and Jose Bosingwa coming to the club, there's no point me thinking, 'Oh, I could have won the Champions League that year' when I'm 35 or 40. I still have some great years ahead of me."
"With the manager we have, I have still got a great possibility of winning it."
"It's down to myself to drive this team forward again and push to get to where we were (last season) and further."
"We showed great strength of character with all the disappointments we had last season, with the changes in manager. We showed what a great team we are. Now we have a manager who can lead the team as well."
Terry said playing for England against the USA in Moscow in the wake of the Champions League final had helped ease the pain.
"I was devastated, but that game put me back on the straight and narrow. I've never watched that final since and I never will. But I do still think about it."
"I have to be professional and totally forget about it. There is no point dwelling on it for the rest of my career."