Chelsea captain John Terry is furious over accusations from ex-teammate Claude Makelele that he influenced Jose Mourinho's dismissal last season.

Makelele has reopened the wounds in his biography, claiming an amazing show of player power cost Mourinho his job - despite the 'Special One' landing five trophies in three years at Chelsea.

As Terry prepared to lead out Chelsea in today's Wembley showpiece, Makelele's accusations will have provoked a furious reaction.

In his book called 'Claude Makelele - quite simply', the Stamford Bridge cult hero, a Chelsea regular for five years, reveals he was told of Mourinho's sacking in a phone call from team- mate Didier Drogba.

He claims: "I thought Mourinho was practically untouchable - the next morning at training it was chaos."

Makelele asked physical trainer Rui Faria if everything was OK only to be told the rumours were true and Mourinho had been fired.

"I asked why and he explained a lot of players had complained about him, notably John Terry."

Makelele claims Terry had been told by Jose he was on the bench to give him time to recover from a back operation.

Terry did not want to be a sub and insisted he was OK to play. But the Chelsea boss stuck by his guns to drop him.

Makelele adds in his book, released this week: "War had been declared. For John, this was treason. He believed, rightly in my opinion, that in giving his all in the second half of the previous season, even though he was in great pain, he deserved more playing time in order to find his optimum level."

Makelele, now at Paris St Germain, also suggests Mourinho could have engineered the showdown because he wanted to end his stay at Chelsea.

Such is Terry's stature at Chelsea, Makelele rated his position as untouchable.

He added: "Mourinho knew, so why take such a risk? Because he'd had enough and was looking for a way out?"

Makelele alleges Terry let Peter Kenyon know he was unhappy and that there was even talk of a move from Chelsea.

Makelele said: "Roman Abramovich reacted immediately, the departure of Terry was totally unimaginable and Mourinho was asked to pack his bags."

A spokesman for Terry told The Sun: "We have been informed that in a book by Claude Makelele it has been claimed that John was in some way involved with the removal of Jose Mourinho as manager of the club.

"This is categorically untrue. There is no foundation in this allegation.

"We also confirm John has never asked to be transferred from Chelsea. He has asked lawyers to look at any further comments in this book."