Chelsea captain John Terry has revealed how Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff was almost in tears when he left the club for Newcastle.

Duff moved to Tyneside for £5million last July but is unlikely to face his former team-mates tonight.

Newcastle travel to Stamford Bridge to face the Barclays Premiership champions but Duff is recovering from a cartilage operation.

He is the second former Chelsea player in a matter of days to miss out against his old club as injury also forced William Gallas to miss Arsenal's visit last Sunday.

Duff's departure was a shock to many Chelsea fans, especially after manager Jose Mourinho had built a title-winning side around the use of two wingers.

Skipper Terry revealed that Duff was almost in tears when he said an emotional goodbye to his team-mates at the club's training ground.

Terry declared: "He really filled up the day he left Chelsea and he said he never thought he would be like that at a football club. He said he wasn't like that at Blackburn and Duffer was at Blackburn a long time. He was gutted to leave Chelsea."