JOHN Terry has emerged from personal turmoil no longer owning the England captain’s armband but vowing not to change when he pulls on the shirt.

Terry was pitched into the most turbulent period of his life when his alleged affair with Wayne Bridge’s former girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel came into the public domain.

The Chelsea captain was swiftly hauled before Fabio Capello and told he was no longer England captain, and then had his discomfort increased by Bridge’s refusal to shake his hand prior to a match against Manchester City at the end of February.

It was a period of great uncertainty in Terry’s life, a time that also included Chelsea’s Champions League exit to Inter Milan.

But from desperation, the 29-year-old has, if anything, emerged an even stronger figure.

And, during his dressing down by Capello, he assured the Italian he would remain a pillar of strength on the field, even more important now his replacement as captain, Rio Ferdinand, has been ruled out of the World Cup through injury.

“When I met the manager I stressed to him that I accepted his decision but he would continue to get exactly the same character,” said Terry.

“I am not going to allow my head to go down and beat myself up about it. I will just continue to be the same person.

“Nothing will ever change, either at Chelsea or with England.

I will still give my opinion and make my presence felt, both in the dressing room or on the field.

“Like every other player, I am here to win the World Cup and will do everything possible, even if it is an opinion away from football, I will say what needs to be said.”

With Ferdinand no longer around, Terry clearly needs to take his ‘A’ game into Saturday’s Group C opener against the United States.

He is confident enough about doing it too, given his form steadily improved as Chelsea’s season reached a League and Cup-winning conclusion.

“My form got questioned on earlier in the season but towards the end, Chelsea had a lot of big games and I stepped up and performed at my best level,” Terry said.

“When Chelsea did not win games I probably accept that I did not play well. But when Chelsea won – and we won a lot more than we lost – I played well.”

■ Spain playmaker Xavi is an admirer of England’s midfield stars and would not be surprised to see Fabio Capello’s side triumph at the World Cup in South Africa.

The Barcelona midfielder picked out Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard as the players who can fire England into the latter stages of the tournament.

He told www.betfairfootball.

com: ‘‘Lampard and Gerrard, for me, are number one players. I like the way they play because they see football very well, and they score goals and are always prepared to shoot.

‘‘I like them because they play in my position, I notice them more and they are fantastic players.’’ Spain are the favourites to triumph in South Africa but Xavi believes his country and England are in the same position having consistently underachieved at past tournaments.

He added: ‘‘England for me is like Spain. They can be one of the favourites in the World Cup but previously they haven’t done much.

“I think the favourites are the teams who have won it previously.

‘‘England has possibilities, in the players, as well as having Capello. He has demonstrated he is a very good coach wherever he has gone.

“With Real Madrid he won two leagues and did well in Italy too. The coach is good and the players are too.’’