Chelsea have been rocked by the news that midfielder Joe Cole will not play again this season due to injury.
The 27-year-old ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the 4-1 FA Cup third-round replay win over Southend in midweek.
He had a successful operation in London on Saturday morning, but his injury will be a massive blow to under-fire Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Scolari said: "I am very sad for Joe to have suffered this injury and I am disappointed to have lost a very important player for me and the club at such a vital moment of the competition.
"However, I believe that with his spirit, Joe will come back to Chelsea even better than before."
Captain John Terry added: "We're all behind Coley to get fit as soon as possible.
"We're all gutted for him and we know how much it means to him to be playing.
"No-one will be more hurt at missing games through injury. But one thing we all know is that he'll work just as hard off the pitch to get fit as he does on it."
The news will also come as a blow to England manager Fabio Capello, who will now be without the former West Ham star for against Spain and Slovakia along with their World Cup qualifier with Ukraine at Wembley in April.
It is also doubtful he will be fully recovered in time to play any part in the June qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra.
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The 27-year-old ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the 4-1 FA Cup third-round replay win over Southend in midweek.
He had a successful operation in London on Saturday morning, but his injury will be a massive blow to under-fire Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Scolari said: "I am very sad for Joe to have suffered this injury and I am disappointed to have lost a very important player for me and the club at such a vital moment of the competition.
"However, I believe that with his spirit, Joe will come back to Chelsea even better than before."
Captain John Terry added: "We're all behind Coley to get fit as soon as possible.
"We're all gutted for him and we know how much it means to him to be playing.
"No-one will be more hurt at missing games through injury. But one thing we all know is that he'll work just as hard off the pitch to get fit as he does on it."
The news will also come as a blow to England manager Fabio Capello, who will now be without the former West Ham star for against Spain and Slovakia along with their World Cup qualifier with Ukraine at Wembley in April.
It is also doubtful he will be fully recovered in time to play any part in the June qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra.
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