Chelsea skipper John Terry has defended his contrived Stamford Bridge farewell last weekend and claimed that he "could not care less" about the criticism he has received.
The 36-year-old said a drawn-out goodbye to supporters during the first half of the Blues' final-day win over Sunderland on Sunday, departing the field in the 26th minute to represent his shirt number.
Terry was given a guard of honour by his teammates, which he later admitted was his idea, but despite the abuse aimed in his direction he insists that he has no regrets.
"I couldn't care less, I promise you," The Guardian quotes him as saying. "All I care about is celebrating with my Chelsea fans. Me and them have a wonderful rapport and have done for 22 years. Nothing that people write or say can ever get in the way of that.
"If that's the way I want to go out, that's the way I go out because I've been here 22 years, I've won so many trophies – so if I wanted to play one minute and come off, I would have done.
"I wanted to play 26 minutes because the shirt number means a lot to me and the supporters so as long as they are happy – and I was over the moon with the reception – I promise you I could not care less."
Terry has featured a total of 717 times for Chelsea in all competitions and could appear once more in Saturday's FA Cup final with Arsenal.
Daniel Lewis
