Chelsea Football Club News

• Nickname:Blues
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Roberto Di Matteo

• Ground:Stamford Bridge
• Capacity:42,440

Cech forced to have surgery

07 Apr 2008 - 14:38:26

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Chelsea have confirmed that Petr Cech was forced to have surgery on Sunday after being involved in a training ground accident that left him with injuries to his lip and chin.

A brief statement on the Blues' official website added: "Petr will begin his rehabilitation immediately and we hope to have him back playing as soon as possible."

The Czech Republic international has missed Chelsea's last nine games with an ankle problem and was believed to be close to a return to action in Saturday's 2-0 win at Manchester City, although Avram Grant eventually opted to start with Carlo Cudicini.

It had been thought that Cech would play in Tuesday's second leg of the Champions League quarter-final encounter with Fenerbahce but that will not now be the case.

Grant had said before the Manchester City match: "Cech has made a lot of improvement and we need to see where he is at the end of the recovery period.

"He is better than 50-50, he is almost ready. It will be a medical decision. But we have other goalkeepers who have done a good job this year."

The 25-year-old shot-stopper has made 158 appearances for Chelsea following his move from Rennes to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004.