Injury and suspension worries for Chelsea in US tour

CHELSEA assistant manager Steve Clarke believes the two-week trip to the US has been a “worthwhile” adventure, despite throwing up injury and suspension worries to key personnel.

Jose Mourinho’s new-look side have gelled well in their two Champions World Series matches, comfortably beating Celtic and Roma.

But Thursday night’s 3-0 rout of the Italians in Pittsburgh came at a cost.

Striker Mateja Kezman scored his fourth goal in pre-season, but the £5.3m arrival from PSV Eindhoven could now face a three-match ban following his sending-off for an altercation with former Leeds midfielder Olivier Dacourt.

And £9m Dutch winger Arjen Robben suffered a foot injury when chopped down by Dacourt in the incident which sparked ugly scenes at Heinz Field.

The fate of the Serbia and Montenegro forward now rests with US Soccer, and whether officials there send a report to the Football Association which would, under FIFA rules, mean a three-match suspension, to be served 14 days after the document is processed.

In the early hours of yesterday morning Chelsea continued their pre-season warm-up against AC Milan at the Lincoln Financial Stadium in Philadelphia, where striker Hernan Crespo looks set to face his employers after being loaned out to the Serie A side.

Damien Duff, though, should feature again after coming on as substitute against Roma as he continues his recovery from a shoulder operation. Following the arrival of Robben, the Irish winger has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, with Liverpool reportedly keen to take the former Blackburn player to the north-west.

However, Duff’s agent Pat Devlin told BBC Sport: “Damien is very happy at Chelsea and cannot wait to start the season.

“It’s nonsense to suggest he wants to go back to the north-west, there’s no way he wants to leave.

“Damien has just recovered from a bad shoulder injury and isn’t thinking about anything but playing for Chelsea.”

Chelsea have though, parted company with both Bolo Zenden and goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, who have joined Middlesbrough and Leeds respectively.