Chelsea legend John Terry has come under fire from fans after he claimed Jose Mourinho once ordered him to get booked in three successive games to orchestrate a planned suspension. 

Terry, 45, played under Mourinho in both of his spells at Stamford Bridge, and recalled how he was given a holiday to Dubai after picking up deliberate yellow cards to ensure he didn't miss a crunch encounter against Man United in the Premier League.

Speaking on FC Bullard The Show, Terry said: 'We played, I think it was like the second round of the FA Cup, Walsall away or something.

'Three Premier League games before, I’m on two bookings. He comes to me and he was like, "You have to miss that one because we play Man United at home after Walsall. I want you to miss the FA Cup game, so you have to get booked in the next three league games".

'So I get booked the first game, get booked in the second game. I’m on four bookings. I’m one booking away from having a one-game suspension, which would be Walsall away. It would be a rest for me and he could play the fringe players.

'We were playing someone at home and it was the 89th minute and he was saying to me "f***ing get booked, get booked".'

Terry then explained how he followed his manager's orders to ensure the plan came to fruition. 

He added: 'There’s a throw-in in the left corner and I said to one of the boys, "Leave it". He leaves it, and I’m standing there with the ball like this. I’m not throwing it because I know the ref’s going "come on".

'We’re winning the game, and he’s going: "Come on, throw it." And I’m going: "There’s no option. I got no options, ref, mate".

'I’m waiting about two minutes. In the end, he comes over and books me. I drop the ball and just go running back.

'He (Mourinho) sends me to Dubai for four days after. Little bits like that. It was just so good.'

However, Terry's recollections were questioned by some fans and internet sleuths who looked into the records to see if that really happened. 

One said: 'He’s mashing up 3 events… the things happened, just not as he remembers.

'Scunthorpe 2005: Rested before the Man Utd game. Huddersfield 2006: Dubai break with Super Frank. Wolves 2011: Deliberately got a 90th minute 5th yellow to miss a cup tie. This was under Villas-Boas.'

And it appears that Terry may have indeed misremembered certain elements from his career, with the former Chelsea captain having never picked up three successive yellow cards under Mourinho in the Premier League.

During his time at the club, Chelsea also didn't come up against Walsall in the FA Cup, although they did play the Saddlers in a League Cup tie in 2015. On that day, Terry played and was booked in the 52nd minute of the match. 

Some supporters did leap to his defence though as one added: 'Maybe when you’re playing an insane amount of matches and have highs and lows throughout 30+ years in football, you simply get yellow cards and games mixed up?

'Do we sometimes forget simple stuff too?'

Terry's memories could also have been muddled by a mid-season break he was granted by Mourinho in December 2014.

At the time, the Portuguese boss publicly confirmed that he had given Terry, Eden Hazard and Willian a few days off ahead of a Champions League tie with Sporting Lisbon due to the hectic schedule his side faced.