Blues’ injury crisis deepens as Carvalho ruled out for a month
But the centre-half could be out for longer, possibly the rest of the season, if he requires corrective surgery on the injury he sustained in the first-half of Wednesday night’s 5-0 victory over Portsmouth.
Carvalho’s setback is the latest in a long line of injury blows to Chelsea’s Barclays Premier League ambitions.
A spokesman for the club said: “Chelsea can confirm that Ricardo Carvalho suffered ankle ligament damage in last night’s game against Portsmouth.
“The club will be able to determine over the next 24 hours whether the injury requires corrective surgery, however we can confirm at this point that he’ll be out for at least four weeks.”
His injury leaves Chelsea with just two first-choice central defenders in Brazilian Alex and captain John Terry, and comes just days after right-back Branislav Ivanovic was ruled out for a month following a knee injury sustained during the 1-1 draw at Blackburn last weekend.
Chelsea have already been without left-back Ashley Cole, midfielder Michael Essien and right-back Jose Bosingwa for much of the season.
In a further blow for the Blues, Essien has revealed he remains uncertain when he can return from the knee injury that is also threatening to rule him out of the World Cup.
The Ghana international has not played for Chelsea since December and only made a couple of appearances for his country at the Africa Cup of Nations in January before being ruled out indefinitely.
Essien revealed that he had suffered a couple of setbacks in recent weeks and he is now unsure when he will be able to return to action.
“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,’’ Essien told his official blog.
“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 okay and I am making progress. I know I just have to be patient and give it time to heal.’’
On the plus side for the Blues, Didier Drogba expects to be fit for Chelsea’s game against Aston Villa tomorrow after suffering a knee injury against Pompey.
“The knee is painful, but I think it’s going to be alright,’’ the Ivorian said.
Meanwhile, Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge will not be punished for his clash with Portsmouth’s Tommy Smith in Wednesday night’s match, the FA have confirmed.
Smith sustained a broken nose after being caught by Sturridge’s elbow but the FA have not classed the incident as “off-the-ball”, meaning referee Lee Mason was deemed to have dealt with it at the time.
Sturridge’s team-mate Florent Malouda was booked for an aerial collision with Ricardo Rocha, who sustained a suspected fractured cheekbone. As Mason dealt with the offence at the time no further action will be taken.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
