Richard Williamstalks to Chelsea's talismanic leader who is determined to recover from his latest injury in time to lead the side out in Moscow

JOHN TERRY, with his left elbow cradled in a complicated black sling and one of his twin daughters clutching his good arm, led his team out for the traditional end-of-season parade in front of the Stamford Bridge fans yesterday. Whether he will be at their head when they step out into the Luzhniki stadium on May 21st will depend on an extended evaluation by Chelsea's medical staff this week but, if you had to bet on anyone rccovering from such an injury in time for the biggest match in the club's history, he would be the man.

Terry lasted only eight minutes of yesterday's match against Bolton but it was long enough to encapsulate his problems with injury this season. In the third minute he and El Hadji Diouf collided as they went for the ball, the Chelsea captain going to ground and staying down for a few seconds before hauling himself to his feet and limping back into the game with a thoughtful look on his face. Five minutes later he and Petr Cech jumped together to challenge Kevin Davies for a high ball dropping just inside the area and again he was left on the floor after his arm appeared to have been jammed against the leaping goalkeeper.

Face down and beating his right hand on the ground, Terry called for help. Within a couple of minutes, strapped to a stretcher, he was disappearing down the tunnel to a waiting ambulance. On his way to hospital the medics diagnosed a dislocated elbow and managed to ease it back into place. An x-ray revealed no immediate signs of further damage and Terry returned to the ground in time to watch the start of the second half and to monitor Manchester United's progress over 200 miles away.

"It's okay," Terry said later. "They managed to pop it back in before I got to hospital and there's nothing broken. With three or four days' rest it should be all right. I'm very disappointed not to have won the league - we've dropped quite a few points late in matches, as we did today. But take nothing away from United. They've been very good this season. We respect them and they deserve to be there."

While he was being carried off yesterday, Chelsea and their supporters appeared to be facing the prospect of confronting United in Moscow without the man whose exceptional defending stood in the way of Liverpool's frenzied assaults in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final 11 days earlier.

If Terry ever needed to put forward a single 90-minute performance to illustrate the peak of his form and the depth of his contribution to the collective endeavour, that would be the one. When Liverpool woke up in the second half, clawing their way back and forcing extra-time, his resolution and anticipation were crucial to the task of stabilising the platform from which Chelsea secured the goals that took them to victory. Any reservations about his true qualities as a defender, most of which have concerned his occasional propensity to be left flat-footed by a quick-witted opponent, were dispelled and his leadership qualities were equally evident as he held the rearguard together.

Chelsea have reached the European Cup final and second place in the Premier League at the end of a season in which their talismanic captain has suffered half a dozen injuries and endured three periods of absence.

First he missed the Community Shield and the opening two league matches with a back injury. Then, after suffering a knee injury during England's trip to Moscow, he was absent for four league matches between mid-October and late November.

At Highbury in mid-December Emmanuel Eboue's boot broke three small bones in his foot, keeping him out for nine league matches. Since his returning in mid-February his uninterrupted presence in the league was a big factor in the run of nine wins and two draws with which Chelsea closed the gap to Manchester United.

Yesterday marked his 353rd appearance for the club in all competitions and last night his manager, Avram Grant said: "It's good news that there's nothing broken," he said, "and we have 10 days to come to a decision. From the point of view of his character I'm sure there's no problem. We'll just have to wait and see what the medical team say."

During an era in which Chelsea pioneered new levels of spending on exotic foreign talent Terry became the only product of Chelsea's youth scheme to establish his unquestioned right to a place in the current first team. It would be a dreadful shame were yesterday's injury to cost him the chance of playing in a European Cup final. From the look on his face and the tone of his voice as he walked away yesterday, however, the only way of keeping him off the teamsheet will be to have him put down.