John Terry's career had gone through some of the toughest times last season because of controversies as well as an apparent dip in form, but the former England skipper has somehow gotten back on the right track with the help of no less than the man who guided him to the apex of football - Jose Mourinho.

"When it was announced [Mourinho's return], from the word go I was excited for him to come back," Terry told chelseafc.com.

However, it was not going to be walk-in-the-park as Terry knew Mourinho all too well.

"With the injuries I had last year I had to hit the ground running and come back fit, which I did," he revealed.

"I made sure I came in for pre-season a week early to make sure I was ready for when he arrived and tried to impress him from day one."

"Thankfully that's worked and I'm in the side, I'm happy with my form and the way the team are playing at the moment."

Terry disclosed his first encounter with Jose, in which he was offered special condition that only a "special" manager like Jose is capable of imposing to a player of Terry's stature.

"When the manager came in I know he spoke to numerous players but with myself, he laid the law down, he said it's pretty simple, if you play well you're in the team, if not you won't play," he recalled.

"It's the same for everybody in the team, that's how it was before and that's what he demands from his players on a daily basis. Hopefully he's pleased with what he's getting from everyone, which makes his job difficult to pick the side."

He was all praises Mourinho's influence to the team as well as the hard work that the latter is putting in, in the hopes of bringing Chelsea renewed success.

"My career is where it is because of him, I'm very proud to be working with him again and more importantly the team are in a good period at the moment, we're slowly getting to where we want to be, which is in really good form and we're finding that at the moment"

Meanwhile, Terry discussed about the mindset of the Blues ahead of their UEFA Champions League clash against German giants Schalke 04 on Tuesday.

"We played at the stadium once before, the fans are very good, we know about them collectively as a squad of players and individually we could talk through four or five of them," explained Terry.

"They're a real threat going forward and defensively they've looked solid in the games I've seen. We understand it's going to be a tough game, I've seen highlights of their previous Champions League games, we're not coming here under false pretences thinking we're going to pick up three points easily, we understand it's going to be a tough night."

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