Chelsea's John Terry leaves the pitch after he is sent off for a clash with Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez

Roberto Di Matteo came to the defence of John Terry

Chelsea interim head coach Roberto di Matteo has defended captain John Terry after questions were raised about the England defender’s form.

The centre back endured his worst performance in a Blue shirt for a long time during last night’s 4-1 defeat at Anfield with Liverpool strikers Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez dominating him for 90 minutes.

Terry, who was nutmegged by the duo, made things worse by slipping to allow Jordan Henderson to race through unchallenged and score the second.

His performance was so poor it led to suggestions that the former England captain would be left out of the Euro 2012 squad but Di Matteo defended his beleaguered skipper.

“John has been magnificent for us,” said the Italian.

“He has been playing all the games, he has been a leader and everything you want in a captain.”

Michael Essien was another player who looked a out-of-sorts at Anfield.

“Because he has been out for a long time it takes a bit of time to get back into the rhythm,” added Di Matteo.

“Next season, with a full pre-season, he will start to see some fine performances.”