Chelsea captain John Terry appears to aim dig at Rafael Benitez after title success

Chelsea captain John Terry appeared to issue thinly veiled criticism of former interim manager Rafael Benitez after the club deservedly secured the 2014-15 Premier League title with victory over Crystal Palace.

Following a 3-1 success away to Leicester City on 29 April, Jose Mourinho's side were left needing to beat their London rivals at Stamford Bridge in order to finally end a hopelessly one-sided race and they did so courtesy of a first-half header from Eden Hazard that came after the midfielder had seen a tame penalty effort saved by Julian Speroni.

Winning the title for a fourth time overall and the first since 2010 was a particularly special moment for long-serving Terry, who has played every available minute of the club's formidably dominant top-flight campaign to date.

The 34-year-old, who has made over 600 appearances in total for the Blues in all competitions, has once again become a pivotal figure since Mourinho returned for his second spell in charge in June 2013 after being marginalised during the short-lived reign of former Liverpool favourite Benitez.

"One person said I couldn't play twice in a week," the former England stalwart was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. "He knows who he is. I'm still here, still fighting. This is unbelievable, we worked so hard and we got over the line; we're champions."

While Terry did not reference Benitez specifically by name, the two men clearly did not build up a strong rapport after the latter was announced as temporary boss in November 2013 following Roberto di Matteo's sacking.

The experienced centre-back suffered a knee ligament injury that ruled him out for two months of that season but upon his return he often played just once in a week as part of the Spaniard's unpopular rotation policy.

Chelsea have lost just twice in the Premier League so far this season and will look to preserve that impressive record during their remaining three matches against Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland.

The club have confirmed the squad will embark upon a victory parade to celebrate their success with supporters later in May.

"Following our success in winning the Barclays Premier League and with agreement from London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and the Metropolitan Police, we can confirm that a victory parade will be held on bank holiday Monday, May 25, commencing at 12pm," Chelsea revealed on their official website.

Such a parade will also feature the academy squad that have already won both the Uefa Youth League title and FA Youth Cup in recent weeks following respective wins over Shakhtar Donetsk and Manchester City.