ROBERTO DI MATTEO has spoken with John Terry and Chelsea’s medical department and been reassured his captain is ready, both physically and mentally, to lead the side out today into the volatile atmosphere which is bound to be whipped up at Loftus Road.

Terry returned to light training only on Wednesday after suffering an ankle injury during England’s thrashing of Moldova in Chisinau eight days ago, damage that had ruled him out of the national team’s draw with Ukraine in midweek. The defender had always been desperate to feature against Queens Park Rangers, with this the first meeting with Anton Ferdinand since Terry was acquitted of making a racial slur against the Rangers player in the corresponding fixture last October.

Yet the 31-year-old had been similarly determined to feature in January’s FA Cup fourth-round tie between the teams, despite being troubled at the time by bruising to his knee. The centre-half ended up aggravating that injury in the 1-0 win and missed the next six weeks.

“But I don’t think there are any concerns that he will aggravate anything this time,” Di Matteo said. “My selection is made on the basis that, if the medical department tells me a player is fine, he’s available.

“I will consider everything: the internal and external environments, the fitness of the team and what’s the best side to play against QPR. It’s always a difficult game for us at Loftus Road, and we haven’t won there in the league for many years [since 1996], so it’ll be very challenging. But as for John Terry, he’s a confident player. I wouldn’t have any hesitation picking him in that sense.”

Terry and Di Matteo discussed the derby at Cobham this week, while yesterday both clubs were ordered by the Premier League to observe the pre-match handshake. However, with another senior player, Ashley Cole, also fit to play after an ankle injury, it is understood that Ferdinand, and some other QPR players, will snub the Chelsea pair in the opening ritual.

Di Matteo, who spoke with his opposite number, Mark Hughes, at a recent Premier League managers’ meeting, was clear that Terry and Cole would offer their hands to all the home players in the line-up. “From our point of view, we’re going to respect the rules and the protocol in place with the Premier League and set a positive standard to the millions of people who are going to watch us around the world, and make sure people focus on the football side rather than anything else,” he said.

“Our players are fine. They’re respecting the rules and going ahead with [the handshake]. There are no issues. Every time we go to Loftus Road it’s always a feisty day. A big derby for us, a small ground with very passionate supporters from both sides. The rivalry is well known, so it’s going to be a heated atmosphere, but let’s hope we can all focus on the football.”

Meanwhile, Mark Hughes has described the pre-match handshake routine between rival players as “fundamentally flawed” and open to promoting “disrespect” as he expressed his exasperation that the focus before today’s derby between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea at Loftus Road is being placed on whether Anton Ferdinand and John Terry observe the ritual.

The QPR manager reinforced his point about the triviality of the procedure by highlighting the issue that has truly mattered this week – the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report, which exposed an establishment cover-up and brought vindication for the affected families.

“When I saw the list of [predicted] questions [from the press officer] that I was likely to have to answer today, there were nine on the handshakes and one on Hillsborough,” Hughes said. “Ridiculous.”

The Premier League confirmed yesterday that the handshake routine would go ahead, in contrast to the two matches between the sides last season that followed the original flashpoint – the FA Cup tie in January and the league return in April. The decisions to cancel on those occasions were taken after legal advice about Ferdinand and Terry shaking hands before the court case.

The animosity is bitter and Ferdinand is not expected to shake Terry’s hand, or that of Cole. Hughes said his other players had “a mind of their own”, as he suggested it would be up to each of them to “make a personal decision” as to whether they shake with Terry or Cole. They have had a meeting to discuss the matter.

Yet Hughes did not mask his frustration at the sideshow and he questioned why the Premier League insists on the pre-match procedure, which is part of its Respect campaign. Hughes said that he had made his feelings clear to the League, that handshakes should not take place before matches.

“We all fully support the Respect campaign, it’s done fantastic work and it’s to be commended but maybe this part of showing respect is, at times, fundamentally flawed,” he said.

The Premier League has no intention of abandoning pre-match handshakes, and not only because Fifa is set to promote the practice around the world. The League fears that scrapping them would send the wrong message, particularly after a summer that has seen the extolling of the Corinthian spirit at the Olympics and Paralympics.