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Chelsea pair John Terry and Ashley Cole fit to face QPR and prepared for handshakes, says Roberto Di Matteo

John Terry and Ashley Cole are expected to be fit for Chelsea's Premier League game at QPR tomorrow and to take part in the pre-match handshake, manager Roberto Di Matteo confirmed today.

John Terry and Anton Ferdinand
Handshake: John Terry and Anton Ferdinand were involved in a race row that ended up in court this summer Photo: PA

Terry and Cole have been in a race against time to recover from ankle injuries for the west London derby at Loftus Road.

But they have trained without incident for the past three days and are set for a reunion with Anton Ferdinand, who Terry was cleared in court of of racially abusing back in July.

Cole gave evidence as a character witness for his team-mate during the court case and Terry, who was stripped of the England armband by the Football Association before his trial, is still facing a separate FA charge.

"They've recovered, had a couple of days training and we expect them to be available for tomorrow," Di Matteo said.

"We're going to respect the rules and the protocol that is in place from the Premier League and set a positive standard to the millions of people watching across the world."

Reports in the build-up to the West London derby claim Ferdinand is planning to ignore Terry and Cole during the traditional greeting, while some of his QPR teammates may also refuse to shake hands with the Chelsea defenders.

The handshake has been cancelled ahead of the clubs' last two meetings but Di Matteo confirmed: "We'll go ahead with it, yes."

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