Chelsea Football Club News

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

• Ground:Stamford Bridge
• Capacity:42,440

Ferreira knee blow for Blues

06 Mar 2009 - 14:42:39

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Chelsea's cruciate knee ligament injury jinx has struck again following news that Paulo Ferreira will not play again this season.

The Portugal full-back picked up the serious injury during training on Thursday and is now facing at least six months on the sidelines.

Ferreira is the third Chelsea player to suffer such an injury this season after Michael Essien and Joe Cole.

He has only started only three Premier League games so far this season this season though, after losing his starting place to Jose Bosingwa.

"Guus Hiddink has announced that Paulo Ferreira injured an anterior cruciate ligament yesterday (Thursday) and is out for the season," confirmed a brief statement.

However, the news of Ferreira's absence has been tempered by the return to action of Essien.

The Ghana midfielder will be in the squad for Saturday's FA Cup sixth-round meeting with Coventry City following six months on the sidelines.

Essien has not featured in the first team since the second game of the season back in August.

Hiddink has also confirmed that Ashley Cole will be part of the squad despite his well-documented off-field problems this week.

The England defender was arrested outside a London nightclub for being drunk and disorderly in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The 28-year-old issued an apology after being handed a £80 fixed-penalty notice but, following talks with Hiddink on Friday, has been told he will be in the squad for the trip to the Ricoh Arena.