Andre Villas-Boas has dismissed suggestions that the ongoing race row affected John Terry on Saturday against the Gunners.

The Blues skipper scored a first-half goal to put his side ahead at Stamford Bridge, but his second-half slip gifted Arsenal a late lead. Nevertheless, the Chelsea boss does not believe that the FA's investigation into allegations of racism against the England international – launched earlier this week – was a distraction.

"Has the situation affected John? No, not at all," he said. "It hasn't distracted him at all, I don't think.

"For me, it was never a situation. It's a misunderstanding. It's an FA investigation, so let them investigate.

"This is just defeat for a team, a very important defeat and nothing else. We were punished by an unlucky situation. Luck didn't want anything with us today."

Chelsea remain in third place in the Premier League, despite suffering their second loss in two games.