Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has backed Fabio Capello in the row over John Terry being stripped of the England captaincy and insists the Italian is right to make his unhappiness public.

England manager Capello told Italian TV that he “absolutely” disagreed with the action by the Football Association.

The FA said on Friday that Terry would be stood down as England captain until the outcome of a court case in July, after the end of the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, where the Chelsea defender denies a charge of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

“He has the right to his opinion and to share that defence with the player,” Villas-Boas said of Capello’s remarks.

Former FA executive director David Davies is among those who’ve speculated Capello said what he did in order to prevent centre-back Terry retiring from international football before Euro 2012.

Reports emerged on Tuesday in the British media that Terry would continue to make himself available for England duty despite losing the captaincy.

Meanwhile Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson sympathised with Capello but urged him to resolves his differences with the FA.

Capello is due to meet FA chairman David Bernstein later this week and Ferguson told CNN: “There has to be some communication regarding the issue.

“I know Fabio has been abroad but he’s back now so the next few days should reveal everything.

“It’s a difficult situation for both sides. When you are the manager of a team and have a captain that is an important part of that team then you don’t want to lose him, so I can understand there’s a lot of discussion and controversy about it.”