John Terry
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has revealed the team’s captain John will miss Saturday’s clash with Tottenham and could be sidelined for the next three weeks.
The defender, 36 next month, has made one substitute appearance since the Blues began a sixmatch winning in the Premier League, scoring 17 goals without reply.
His only start since returning from an ankle injury was in the EFL Cup loss at West Ham in October.
Given his lack of game time, Terry featured for Chelsea’s development squad in Monday afternoon’s 32 win over Southampton. But he has now picked up a muscular injury and is set for a spell on the sidelines.
“For tomorrow I don’t have available John Terry and (John) Obi Mikel,” Conte said.
“John has a muscular problem in his gluteus and Mikel also has a muscular problem. [Terry] did it in training and will be out for two or three weeks.”
Asked if Terry’s setback is frustrating, Conte replied: “Yeah. But he needs to recover from his injuries and then he must start training sessions and have good form.
“He recovered really well from his last injury and now he needs to stop again.”