RIO ON JT: "His performances for Chelsea this season have been nothing short of outstanding".

There has been plenty of praise for John Terry in recent weeks over his consistent form this season. One person in particular has praised the former England Captain and it's someone who would be a surprise to all of us.

Rio Ferdinand has taken to his column in The Sun ahead of Chelsea's game against Crystal Palace; to praise JT for his form and it's refreshing to read. Plenty of people have suggested that JT should have been on the shortlist for the Player of the Year award and Ferdinand has admitted that his form he has been outstanding all season.

He said:

"It’s no secret that me and John Terry are not the closest of mates. But just because we no longer get on does not mean I’ve lost my admiration for him as a footballer. His performances for Chelsea this season have been nothing short of outstanding and I’m not afraid to say it. John took the decision to retire from playing for England and had his reasons, but Chelsea are reaping the benefits.

John is finding, as I did, that the upside of being off the international scene is that your body gets the rest it needs which allows you to keep performing at top-level well into your 30s. As I said, me and John are not pals but then again I didn’t like a lot of things about Luis Suárez either, especially when he was biting people."

JT rightly or wrongly, gets plenty of stick from rival supporters up and down the country and plenty of people's views are biased about him. However, if people concentrate on his ability as Captain of our football club and for his ability on the pitch, they would have to hold their hands up and admit that he remains the best English defender in the Premier League.

Once again I ask you to cast your minds back to two seasons ago under Rafa Benitez and it looked like JT's career had taken a real nose dive!

Benitez did his absolute best to ruin JT and to force him to leave the club. Either not selected or left on the bench,  it was almost like Benitez had a pre-opinion of JT and would completely ignore the ability he had.

Just look at JT now! Jose Mourinho came back to Chelsea and was honest and open with JT. He told him that if he was good enough and still had it within to perform at the highest level, he would be in the team provided that his form was good enough to keep him there.

From that moment on, JT has got his head down and worked hard knowing that he would only be given another years contract at the end of each season if he deserved it.

Look on his Instagram account to last summer for example. He received plenty of banter and comment but he posted up his work out routines and working hard at Cobham during the break to maintain his fitness and to ensure he gave himself the best chance to remain in the team and as Captain of our team.

Once we win the Premier League (let's face it we will before anyone moans), people will look back at the performances of JT and some may even consider them to be the best he has ever played for us. I know some will argue for the days back playing alongside William Gallas or Ricardo Carvalho but you have to admit that he has been top drawer all year long.

Whether it's playing alongside Gary Cahill or Kurt Zouma, JT leads the side, guides the players around him and remains an inspiration to the whole team.

For Rio Ferdinand, despite his personal opinion, to come out and speak about JT as highly as he has must be noted. I personally never rated Ferdinand as highly as other people have because he was the total opposite to JT. For example, when did you ever see Ferdinand literally throw himself into blocks or tackles? He would hardly get his knee's dirty!

John Terry has been fantastic all season long and you could count any mistakes he has made all year on just a single hand.

It's about time those people with a negative view of the man outside the football pitch give him the respect that he deserves. Rio Ferdinand has, why can't they?