John Terry integral to Chelsea's success this season, whether he plays or not

The question of John Terry's involvement in the FA Cup tie against Manchester United has been a needlessly emotive one. Easy headlines can be made from the issue of whether or not Terry steps out in what is pretty certain to be his last opportunity to star for Chelsea in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge.

Antonio Conte has favoured his largely unplayed captain in this competition, when available, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will bow to sentiment here – or even in the two Wembley dates that may follow if Manchester United are overcome.

Terry may have been a bit-part player on the pitch this season, but he has certainly made his presence felt off it. This is the part his detractors don't understand when they mock him for that picking-up of the Champions League trophy in full kit – if Terry is in the building, he adds a percentage to the team simply by being there.

The Munich thing, which made ill-informed headlines at the time and has been the subject of undeserved jibes and social media yardage ever since, was neither the first nor the last time a player had done what he did. One imagines Wayne Rooney's similar involvement in the League Cup final the other week will not become quite so infamous.

But Rooney deserved his moment at Wembley, just as Terry did his at the Allianz: they are both towering presences at their clubs, who carry so much more clout than merely as a face on (or behind) the bench.

Any success Chelsea achieve this season will be in part down to Terry. Plenty in the dressing room will talk freely about what he brings to the side in terms of desire and a will to win.

He has, over the course of almost two decades, been integral in developing a climate at the club that, through a conveyor-belt succession of managers, has at the end of the day been England's most successful side of the last dozen years.

There is a reason why a team, when it wins a trophy, is given more than just the 11 (plus one/two/three) medals for those on the pitch when it happens: so much more goes towards making success.

Should the now rated 1/14 chance of Chelsea winning the Premier League come to pass, and let's remember the bookies aren't always right, Terry will deserve his medal. Just as, should the FA Cup be lifted by Chelsea at Wembley, he will deserve to have one hand on it. And, thus, Conte does not need to feel browbeaten to include him.

He is not Chelsea's best centre-half for the system that Conte favours: working in that formation there are at least three, and possibly four ahead of him. That is in part due to Anno Domini; but also because even at his very best, 3-4-3 would not have been his strongest suit to wear.

But there are reasons, beyond that of sentiment, to name him in the XI: either for Manchester United, or any further rounds that should follow.

The experience of the man is literally unparallelled for a captain in the English game. Like Didier Drogba before him, he carries that aura that matters in big matches.

Conte has demonstrated more than ably this season that he knows his side inside out: its strengths and weaknesses. And he will know exactly where Terry will be best used in the remaining games of this campaign: be it on pitch, or off it. There is no need to patronise, or to pamper egos: Terry will rightly share in whatever success may follow.

Sentiment is for the movies: happy-endings win Oscars, not titles. Terry has proved he is a title-winner, and he will rightly share in that success whether he kicks a ball or not.