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John Terry wants long career like Ryan Giggs

John Terry celebrates Chelsea's Premier League title win
Image: John Terry made 49 appearances for Chelsea last season

John Terry says he wants to emulate Ryan Giggs and play beyond his 40th birthday.

The Chelsea defender was ever-present for the Blues least season, helping them win the Premier League.

Terry said he puts in extra work in training and in pre-season to ensure he can prolong his playing career.

And the 34-year-old hopes to follow in the footsteps of Giggs, who retired aged 40 last year to become assistant coach at Manchester United.

The former England skipper told Sky Sports News HQ: “In the last four or five years I’ve done a lot of extra work, not just at the training ground.

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John Terry says that Chelsea are the team to catch this season and that the squad know that they need to improve if they are to retain their Premier League

"The kids are a bit older now so I get a bit more of a lie-in.

"Putting the effort in the gym, training ground, off the pitch and eat the right food, I'm hoping to carry on as a long as possible.

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"There's an opportunity you see with players like Giggs of playing until a very big age."

Chelsea, who face Fiorentina in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday, kick off their league campaign against Swansea City on Saturday.

And the defender said Sunday's defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield has made the squad more determined to retain their title.

He said: "Sometimes you win, win, win. It’s not nice losing, we wanted to win the Community Shield.

"The only positive was we played well and more importantly the disappointment within the squad can be a wake up call, it could be a blessing in disguise."

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He added: "We are the team to catch.

"We realise we need to go on another level to last year which is going to be a tough task.

"But we’re up for the challenge. We have a hunger and desire within the squad to go again."

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