Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas insists his club cannot be blamed for the chain of events which led to Fabio Capello's resignation as England manager.

Capello resigned on Wednesday following the decision of the Football Association board to go over his head and strip Chelsea defender John Terry of the England captaincy.

The FA board made their decision pending the outcome of Terry's trial in July on a charge of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand - a charge Terry denies.

Taking training: Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas in Cobham on Thursday

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay had written to the district judge asking for the trial to be delayed until after the Chelsea player's domestic and international footballing commitments were over for the season, with the FA initially expecting a verdict in March or April which would have made a decision over Terry's captaincy more clear-cut.

Villas-Boas stressed: 'It was a court decision in the end. We had our preference of course, but I am not sure if it was that preference that made an impact on the court's decision to delay the case.

'Whatever the consequences of events that ran after, we had nothing to do with it.'

Villas-Boas feels England will struggle to find another coach of Capello's calibre - but declared it would be an 'outstanding' progression were the Football Association to appoint Harry Redknapp.

Stuart Pearce, the England Under-21 and Great Britain Olympic team boss, has been put in caretaker charge for the friendly against Holland on February 29 following the shock departure of the Italian.

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