LONDON (REUTERS) - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes his captain John Terry may have acted too hastily in deciding to make himself unavailable for the England team.

The 32-year-old defender, capped 78 times for the national team, retired from internationals a year ago after a racism row involving Anton Ferdinand, brother of his long-term England team-mate, Rio.

Despite being cleared in a court of law of using racist insults, Terry was charged by the Football Association and subsequently banned for four games last September by which time he had already withdrawn his services for England.

"It is good for him and good for us. He is recovering his self-esteem, recovering the feeling of being an important player for the team, which he lost," Mourinho told a news conference on Friday ahead of Chelsea's weekend Premier League clash with Cardiff City.

"The reasons that pushed him to international retirement are out of my control.

"If I was a football player I would wait for the national team to say, 'We don't need you any more.' That is just my personal feeling. For sure he has reasons that push him for that decision."

Terry has started the season fully fit and in good form and there are few better English central defenders in the Premier League. Yet unless there is a sudden change of heart, he will play no part in at the World Cup in Brazil next year.

Team-mate Ashley Cole, who will almost certainly be in the World Cup squad, will not play for Chelsea this weekend after failing to recover from the rib injury that ruled him out of England's final two qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland.

There is better news, however, in the forwards' department.

"Ashley is not ready," Mourinho said.

"Fernando Torres is ready if selected. He has shown good dedication and good work in this period.

"We have now the three available, I want to have problems with players to choose from. Fernando, (Samuel) Eto'o and Demba (Ba) all three are ready and I think we need that."