Exclusive – Wilkins: 'FA are telling the nation John Terry is guilty'

Ray Wilkins has accused the FA of 'telling the nation' John Terry is guilty of racial abuse by stripping the defender of the England captaincy.

The Chelsea star will stand trial in July over claims he made racist comments towards QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, leading to the FA taking the decision that he should not captain the national side.

But Wilkins has warned that taking the armband off him for a second time will have a detrimental effect on morale in the England squad ahead of the European Championship this summer.

“If you take the captaincy away from John, take his position away from him as well because you are telling him he’s guilty and you’re telling the nation that John Terry’s guilty," the ex-England captain told Keys & Gray.

"With the captaincy stripped of him once again, he’s going to feel down and cheesed off but they’re still going to require John to be 100% behind them.

“He’s extremely strong but certain people can only take so much. He’s looking for a little bit of support here from the FA. The judge has deemed it that that will be on the 9th [of July], it’s entirely up to the FA what they do. John’s a strong guy but I don’t know what he’ll do. Knowing John, he will go.

“He will be distraught. He’s a very proud man. He feels that leading his country is the ultimate honour that a professional footballer can have and he’s dead right - it is.

“It’ll be interesting to see if they actually select him for the squad. If John goes, if they don’t think he’s going to be an influence around the place, they’re sorely mistaken because that’s the way the guy is.

“He leads from the front, he wears his heart on his sleeve and he plays 100% every time. It almost appears to me that the FA want to have their cake and eat it.

“They feel he shouldn’t lead the team but they will pick him because, if they don’t, they won’t win anything.”