Fabio Capello has suffered his first setback as England manager after John Terry, the incumbent captain, was ruled out for at least two months with a broken metatarsal suffered in Chelsea's defeat at Arsenal.
It was first thought that Terry had damaged an ankle ligament after the centrehalf was fouled by Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue near the end of the first half at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
But Terry, who attempted to run off the injury but ended up leaving the stadium wearing a protective cast, underwent further tests yesterday in Surrey and X-rays confirmed he had fractured three bones in his right foot, including his third metatarsal.
Chelsea were hopeful last night that the injury could heal in six weeks, though that could prove wishful thinking.
The defender could be missing for two to three months. His absence is a huge blow for Avram Grant, who is already without Didier Drogba as the club's leading scorer this season recovers from knee surgery. The Chelsea manager will lose Drogba and other key players to the African Cup of Nations in the new year.
For England, the only match 27-year-old Terry will definitely miss is Capello's opening game in charge, against Switzerland at Wembley on February 6th.
Though he is a quick healer, both club and country will be aware of the potential complications with metatarsal injuries.
"An X-ray taken straight after John left the field didn't show the injury," said the Chelsea doctor Bryan English. "However, as is usual with a mid-foot injury, the fractures were revealed following further scans."
Eboue's challenge earned the Ivorian a caution when he might have warranted harsher sanction, though it did later prompt an apology.
"I said to Eboue at the end that it was a red card because he did it on purpose but he denied that," said Chelsea's Salomon Kalou, an international team-mate of Eboue's. "He said he tried to block the ball and it was not on purpose. He said sorry to John. He didn't mean to do it."
Eboue was later carried off with medial knee ligament damage, sustained following a foul by Joe Cole, but he responded well to treatment yesterday and might yet feature against Tottenham on Saturday.
