Ashley Cole (centre) attends trial of Chelsea and England teammate John Terry. PIC/AFP

Left-back Cole, taking the witness stand, said the allegations should not have been taken to court.

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“I think we shouldn’t be sitting here,” said Cole, who is mixed-race.

While racism should never be tolerated, “If I repeated something that I thought you said, that’s totally different than if someone just says something,” he told the court.

He said Terry was an inspirational captain and one of the best because he remained cool, calm and collected when others might not.

Cole said Terry had never reacted to taunts on the pitch about an alleged affair with the mother of the former team-mate’s child.

The defender said he was friends with both Anton Ferdinand and his elder brother Rio, the Manchester United and England centre-back.