Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has stated that captain John Terry is the ideal role model.

The French centre-back has been preferred to the 34-year-old skipper by manager Jose Mourinho in recent matches, with Zouma scoring in Saturday's 2-0 win over Arsenal.

However, Zouma has insisted that Terry remains an influential figure at Stamford Bridge.

"John is a legend and is an example to me," the Daily Star quotes Zouma as saying. "He is a really good teacher for me. He is still there, he is a leader.

"We have good defenders, I can play, John can play and Gary Cahill as well. Now we just have to recover our defensive organisation of last season.

"It doesn't matter who plays, we have to keep going and keep clean sheets. I am very happy because I have had a chance to play some games and to show what I can do. But I have to keep going because I'm still young and have to learn a lot from John and Gary. I'm happy to play with them and learn from them."

Chelsea return to Premier League action at Newcastle United on Sunday.