Di Matteo not foreseeing handshake issues

 
P15 Ashley Cole
27 October 2012

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo expects all the players will shake hands before tomorrow's Premier League clash with Manchester United.

The last few days appear to have heralded the first signs of peace breaking out between the Ferdinand brothers and Blues duo John Terry and Ashley Cole.

Cole, who gave evidence in support of Terry at his criminal racism trial in July, was branded a "choc ice" by United centre-back Rio Ferdinand in the wake of the not guilty verdict in those proceedings.

There were fears the pair would not shake hands before tomorrow's game, but both appear prepared to do so.

Di Matteo said: "I've always said that from our point of view, we'll play our part.

"I don't foresee any problems in that sense. I hope that all the players will shake hands."

There have also been suggestions Ferdinand was prepared to offer his hand to former England defensive partner Terry at Stamford Bridge, even though the latter is still serving his four-game racism ban.

Confirming Terry would be at the game, Di Matteo said he would endorse such a gesture, saying: "I'm always for that, yes."

Chelsea came under heavy fire for merely fining Terry after he was found guilty by the Football Association of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand just over a year ago.

The various punishments meted out to the Blues captain prompted a backlash among some black players towards both the club and the anti-racism movement.

"Everybody has an opinion and we must respect that," Di Matteo added.

"We behave the way we think is right for our club and that's how we're going to go forward."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in