Ancelotti coy on Cole punishment

Carlo Ancelotti today refused to reveal what punishment Ashley Cole had been dealt for accidentally shooting a work placement student at Chelsea.

The Blues yesterday announced “appropriate action” had been taken against Cole over the incident, which saw the England left-back wound 21-year-old Tom Cowan with a .22 air rifle at the club’s Cobham training ground.

Surrey Police revealed yesterday they would speak to officials from Chelsea in the coming days to determine whether any criminal offence had been committed.

Cole, who reportedly did not know the rifle was loaded, appears to have been sanctioned by Chelsea but Ancelotti would not go into detail, confirming only that the 30-year-old would start tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League game against Manchester United.

“He will play tomorrow, yes,” said Ancelotti, who insisted Cole was in the right frame of mind to feature.

“Obviously, we are not happy with what happened.

“But I have spoken with him.

“He was very disappointed with this, said sorry, made a mistake. It was an accident.

“We have taken proper action but tomorrow he will play.”

He added: “The mistake was that the gun was here in Cobham.

“We didn’t know the gun was here.”

Asked to whom Cole had apologised, Ancelotti said: “First, he said sorry to the guy that was involved in this, second sorry to the team-mates, third sorry to the club.”

Challenged on the fact the incident may have been a sacking offence in other jobs, Ancelotti said there was “no way” he would have considered such drastic action.

He added: “He is our player, he always had very good behaviour here.

“Now, we have to move on.

“Who didn’t make a mistake in his life?”

The Cole incident is not the first time he or his Chelsea team-mates have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Ancelotti said: “Cobham is not out of control. At Cobham, there is discipline.

“If a player steps over the line, we will take a decision.

“Nobody can say here it is out of control.”

He added on claims of player power: “They have no power.”