Rafa Benitez and John Terry join forces to rubbish reports of dressing-room row

Rafa Benitez and John Terry: Reports of row flatly denied

John Terry has dismissed as "complete rubbish" reports of a dressing-room bust-up with Rafa Benitez.

A story in the Sunday newspapers claimed Benitez turned on the Chelsea captain in the aftermath of defeat at Newcastle earlier this month, blaming him for two goals conceded.

The interim boss has since left Terry out of the side and warned he is no longer guaranteed a starting place, but the skipper was back for the FA Cup replay against Brentford.

And after scoring his side's final goal in a 4-0 win Terry, who missed almost three months of the season with a knee injury, said: "There are stories in the papers but it's lazy journalism - complete rubbish.

"The manager knows me, I want to play. But I've been out for months, and Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic have been doing well.

"There's good competition in the side and we'll all fight for it. There are no complaints from me."

Benitez was also quick to deny any row took place, saying: "I was really surprised because I didn't read the press. It's rubbish.

"Clearly you can see that he is on the pitch, and he is training and working with the rest of the team."

• FA Cup. Click here to bet.