Six-week absence could cost Terry England captaincy

John Terry has broken three bones in his right foot and will be out of action for at least six weeks. The bare facts are depressing enough for Chelsea, who are already struggling to deal with injuries and the absences next month due to the African Nations Cup, but for Terry the blow is a severe one to his hopes of holding onto the captaincy of his country.

England's next match is a friendly on 6 February at home to Switzerland and Terry, whose ability to continue as captain has been questioned, and who hardly received a ringing endorsement yesterday from the new manager, Fabio Capello, will struggle to be fit. He is due, under Chelsea's timetable, to return to action the week before.

Given Terry's recent history of injuries the breaks follow damage to his knee which required an operation, and seven weeks out, a fractured cheekbone, broken toe and surgery to his back it will also continue to raise questions over his on-field behaviour and general recklessness.

The 27-year-old does not do himself any favours at times. Emmanuel Ebou, who later suffered medial ligament damage in a tackle by Joe Cole, was undoubtedly wrong in his challenge on Terry which caused the damage to the central defender in Sunday's match against Arsenal. But the captain had already behaved in a way that suggested he would be red-carded or carried off the field before the final whistle.

It was immediately feared that Terry had broken bones but Chelsea denied this, claiming he had suffered ligament damage to his ankle. Yesterday the club doctor Bryan English said: "An x-ray taken immediately after John left the field did not show the injury. The fractures, which include his third metatarsal, were revealed following scans performed on Monday afternoon."

The diagnosis that Terry will be out for six weeks is thought to be optimistic. The injury may also influence the club's transfer targets in the January window. Manager Avram Grant has made clear he wants another striker and midfielder but with Terry and Ricardo Carvalho both injured, the club is relying on the unconvincing pairing of Alex and Tal Ben Haim in defence.

Much of Chelsea's anger for Terry's latest injury has focussed on Ebou, and the club's striker Salomon Kalou an Ivorian like the Arsenal midfielder said yesterday that his compatriot had apologised for his challenge.

"I was saying to Ebou that it was a red card because he did it on purpose but he denied that," said Kalou. "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, but to apologise was a nice thing to do.

"John will be a big loss and is very important to the squad. We will miss him and it will be difficult to do it without him but we have the players to do that." That, however, remains a moot point for Chelsea who face Liverpool tomorrow in a League Cup quarter-final.