John Terry’s hopes of re-establishing himself in Antonio Conte’s Chelsea line-up suffered a major setback when the centre-back was dismissed midway through the second half on his first appearance in two months.

Terry, who has been sidelined since early November with ankle and groin injuries, was sent off for bringing down Peterborough striker Lee Angol with a clumsy challenge midway through the second half when Chelsea were leading 3-0 through goals from Pedro, Michy Batshuayi and Willian, and in total control of this FA Cup tie.

The departure of the former England captain, 36, who is out of contract at the end of this season and was eager to make a good impression after being sidelined during his side’s surge to the head of the Premier League table, was quickly followed by a Peterborough goal, a side-foot effort from Tom Nichols, but while Grant McCann’s side were briefly lifted, a second Pedro goal snuffed out any chance of a difficult end to the game for Conte’s side. Chelsea saw out the game easily, although the final stages will have been far less comfortable for Terry.

Michy Batshuayi made a rare start for the Blues (Getty)

Prior to Terry’s dismissal, Conte’s first experience of the FA Cup could hardly have gone more smoothly. The Italian made nine changes to the side that started the midweek defeat at Tottenham Hotspur that ended Chelsea’s run of 13 successive league wins, but after surviving an early scare, the Premier League side took control of the game and should have put the tie beyond reach by half-time.

Grant McCann, the Peterborough manager, had insisted his side would not be inhibited by the trip to Stamford Bridge and, having lost just one of their previous 13 games, the League One side’s confident start initially put Chelsea on the back-foot. Had Angol made more of an early, close range chance or centre-back Ryan Tafazolli not directed a free header wide, Conte’s side might have endured a more uncomfortable afternoon.

Instead, they were allowed to ease their way into the game with Pedro, one of only two players to retain his midweek starting spot, putting Chelsea ahead with a excellent 18th minute finish after Nathaniel Chalobah’s powerful shot had been parried by keeper Luke McGee. The Spain international showed impressive composure to collect the loose ball, evade on challenge, and direct his shot into the top corner of McGee’s goal.

John Terry argues with referee Kevin Friend after being shown red (Getty)

Chelsea’s play became more fluent and Peterborough were fortunate Pedro was unable to repeat his earlier finish when presented with a similar opportunity, this time striking the bar from close range when confronted with an empty net. And the home side were again guilty of wasting a good opportunity, this time when Batshuayi betrayed his desire to make an impression by going for goal instead of taking the easier option of playing in Willian, much to Conte’s obvious frustration.

The second goal eventually came a minute before half time when Willian set Branislav Ivanovic free on the right hand flank, allowing the wing-back to deliver a cross towards Ruben Loftus-Cheek, whose lay-off enabled Batshuayi to make amends for his previous mistake and place a right foot shot beyond McGee.

Fabregas acknowledges the Chelsea faithful (Getty)

An early chance for Loftus-Cheek after the break suggested there would be no let up for the visitors who found themselves falling further behind moments later when Pedro collected the ball wide on the left before finding Willian who found the corner of the goal from 20 yards out.

Peterborough were given hope when Terry brought down Angol as the forward pushed the ball past the defender and would have had a clear run on goal had Terry fallen in front of him to earn a red card. Nichols converted from close range but Pedfro’s 75th minute finish killed off the contest.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Begovic; Zouma, Terry, Cahill (Aina 57); Ivanovic, Fabregas, Chalobah, Pedro; Willian (Kante73), Batshuayi, Loftus-Cheek (Azpilicueta 69).

Subs: Eduardo, Hazard, Moses, Costa.

Peterborough United (4-4-2): McGee; Smith, Bostwick, Tafazoli, Hughes (Binnom-Williams 89); Maddison (Taylor 57), Lopes, Forrester, Edwards (Samuelson 57); Nichols, Angol.