Source: Telegraph
Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho ruled out for a month with ankle injury
The club hope to discover on Friday whether the 31 year-old needs to undergo surgery on his left ankle after he fell awkwardly.[LNB]The worst-case scenario is that Carvalho will be out for at least eight weeks, and maybe more, which would also place under threat his chances of playing for Portugal in the World Cup finals. If Chelsea discover that surgery is unnecessary then Carvalho could return in four to five weeks, but he will be absent for a number of crucial matches, including the league match away to Manchester United and the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa.[LNB] Related ArticlesAncelotti: we must treat each game like a finalPortsmouth 0 Chelsea 5Portsmouth drop Dindane to avoid £4m feeFranck Ribery rules out Chelsea moveCarlo Ancelotti: Chelsea can win titleSport on televisionThe loss of Carvalho is a serious blow to Chelsea, who have suffered a series of injuries this season and are now left with just two fit central defenders. It means — with Jose Bosingwa ruled out for the campaign, because of his injured knee, and Ashley Cole still recovering from his broken ankle — that they have been shorn of three-quarters of their first-choice defence while Branislav Ivanovic also hobbled off last weekend against Blackburn Rovers with another knee injury and will be out for a month.[LNB]There are now growing concerns that Michael Essien's knee injury may rule him out for the rest of the season — he has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation — and the World Cup. 'I was hoping to be available for the home game against Inter, but the healing has taken a bit longer because my knee kept swelling,' the midfielder said. 'In two weeks I ended up having four lots of surgery to try and get the fluid away from the area. Finally it seems to be OK.'[LNB]The loss of Carvalho is a significant blow ahead of Saturday's league match at home to Villa with striker Didier Drogba admitting it is a 'big, big game' for the club who reduced United's lead at the top of the table to one point by defeating Portsmouth at a time when manager Carlo Ancelotti is under mounting pressure.[LNB]'It's not about the end of something (with the current Chelsea squad," Drogba said. 'It's difficult when the team is playing so many matches for all of us to be on top of our game, on top of our fitness and right now we have a lot of injured players.'[LNB]
