He denies a racially aggravated public order offence, saying he was sarcastically repeating the slur that Ferdinand mistakenly thought he had used.

Continuing his evidence at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Terry said: "I knew there was nothing out there that would show that I had done anything wrong. I was keen to go forward with my police statement, my FA statement. If I had anything to hide I wouldn't have done that."

He said he made a statement before seeing any film footage of the incident.

"If there was ever any doubt in my mind, I could have held back, soaked it up and thought: 'Let's wait until tomorrow, let's see what kind of footage is out there'."

Earlier, prosecutor Duncan Penny put it to Terry that he had made a remark about having sex with Ferdinand's girlfriend, in response to taunts about his alleged affair with a team-mate's ex-partner. Terry denied this.

Terry said Ferdinand's brother Rio, with whom he played at the heart of England's defence, would not take his call in the aftermath.

Terry, Chelsea's most successful captain, tried to phone the Manchester United defender to discuss media reports of the allegations because he did not have Anton Ferdinand's phone number.

It is expected Terry's Chelsea and England team-mate Ashley Cole will give evidence on Wednesday. He arrived at the court this morning.