Chelsea have been dealt another defensive injury blow with the news that Branislav Ivanovic will be out for at least a month, after tearing his medial knee ligaments against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
Ivanovic suffered the injury after colliding with Rovers' goalscorer El-Hadji Diouf during the 1-1- draw at Ewood Park, and he will join left-back Ashley Cole and first-choice right-back Jose Bosingwa on the sidelines.
Bosingwa will miss the World Cup finals after undergoing knee surgery, while Cole faces a race against time to return from a broken ankle before the end of the season. Brazilian right-back Juliano Belletti has also struggled with injury problems, while more positive news for Chelsea is the impending return of both Ricardo Carvalho and goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The absence of Bosingwa has allowed Ivanovic to cement his status as a regular starter for Carlo Ancelotti ahead of Belletti and Paulo Ferreria, with the latter now the most likely to slot in after a spell covering at left-back.
Yuri Zirkhov, who came on for Ivanovic during the draw with Sam Allardyce's side, will now likely occupy the left-back berth for the visit to Portsmouth on Wednesday, a game which Chelsea will be desperate to win to put their title dreams back on track.
Before the results of the scan, Ancelotti had expressed his dismay at the news, saying: "It is a traumatic injury on his knee, so for this we have to wait until the next day for a clear situation of his injury. When you speak about a knee you have to be worried but I hope he can recover quickly."
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Petr Cech will return from injury against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Wednesday. The Czech has been sidelined with a calf injury sustained against Inter Milan in the Champions League last month.
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