Cech says his season's over

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is concentrating on the World Cup after admitting he will take no further part in the club’s season.

Having helped Jose Mourinho’s side to win back-to-back Barclays Premiership titles with their 3-0 win over Manchester United on Saturday, the Czech international will now make way for understudy Carlo Cudicini.

Cech said: “For me the season is over now. Carlo will play the last two games. I would rather be able to rest for a couple of games and then prepare myself for the World Cup finals.”

But despite the success of retaining their league crown, Cech admitted to being disappointed with their failure in other competitions – notably the Champions League.

Cech added: “It was a successful season. Defending the title is something that you don’t do every day. We defended the title for the first time in the club’s history so that is a big thing.

“But we are also a bit disappointed. We dropped out of the FA Cup and were beaten by Barcelona in the Champions League, although nobody took it as a tragedy.

“We wanted to win it (the title) at home. Last year we did it at Bolton and there were only 5,000 Chelsea fans there.

“It was also good because Manchester United were our closest challengers and they are the last team that successfully defended the title back in 1999. The result outlined who’s the best in the Premiership.”

Cech is not the only player undergoing a rest as captain John Terry, Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien and Claude Makelele will also take no further part in the campaign.

Terry injured his ankle during the win over United but will be fit for England‘s World Cup squad.

Manager Jose Mourinho said: “John is improving every day and he will be ready physically to join the national team on the first day. I think mentally he can forget Chelsea now for a couple of months and start to concentrate on England.”

Chelsea club doctor Bryan English explained that Terry twisted his ankle as well as having three stitches in a cut after a challenge by United’s Wayne Rooney.

English said: “We put two stitches in at half-time, then took them out at the end and replaced them with three.

“In the second half he also twisted his ankle a little as well, so he actually had two injuries.”