Chelsea captain John Terry admits he's struggled to accept Manchester United's dominance in recent years.

The images of missing that penalty against United in the Champions League Final in Moscow never leave him, nor the sight of seeing Rio Ferdinand and his teammates lift the League trophy every May since 2007.

Terry did not expect to be playing second fiddle to Sir Alex Ferguson's side after enjoying successive titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006.

So the centre-half admits he will still remember this year for all the right reasons if Chelsea finish the campaign on top. Terry, who played his 50th game of the season in the crucial 2-0 win at Liverpool on Sunday, told the London Evening Standard: "To play 50 games is a massive thing for me personally but more important is for me to get my hands on that trophy again.

"Three years without lifting it and sitting back on the final day of the season watching United celebrate has been tough.

"We had two years winning it when Jose was here so to go three years without it is unacceptable. We're probably our own worst critics. Once you have a taste of glory you want it year in, year out.

"We have probably not been at our best, we had a few injuries over the last couple years but this year we feel we have been as good as anyone in the League and deserve to be right up there."