John Terry Heads Chelsea Injury Fears

06 August 2007

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England captain John Terry heads a lengthy injury list that threatens to hinder the start of Chelsea's season.

Defender John Terry, may be out for a month after damaging knee ligaments.

Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Salomon Kalou, Michael Ballack, Andriy Shevchenko, Wayne Bridge and Paolo Ferreira were also out of the squad.

Chelsea played Joe Cole as a lone striker against United, with summer signing Tal Ben Haim partnering Ricardo Carvalho at the heart of defence in a match the Blues lost on penalties.

Striker Claudio Pizarro, who arrived on a free transfer from Bayern Munich in June, is struggling with a back problem.

And Mourinho's predicament was not helped by keeper Petr Cech, Glen Johnson, Florent Malouda and Shaun Wright-Phillips all picking up injuries before half-time against United.

They carried on but Chelsea will assess the extent of the damage to a growing number of players this week in the lead up to the opening game of the Premier League season against Birmingham on Sunday.

Terry's injury appears to be the main concern and is believed to have suffered the knee problem in training on Saturday.

He could miss the league games against Birmingham, Reading and Liverpool.

England boss Steve McClaren may also have to manage without his inspirational leader for the friendly with Germany on 22 August as well as the crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia in September.

Mourinho could also soon be without winger Robben and German captain Ballack, who, despite injury concerns, have also both reportedly been the subject of offers from Real Madrid.

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