Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech out for four weeks, Andre Villas-Boas confirms
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ross-Turnbull-c31796.
The 29-year-old http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Czech-Republic-c2882 international fell awkwardly towards the end of a training session which caused the injury to his knee. Cech will miss the clash against West Brom Albion over the weekend at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues will undoubtedly miss the experienced stopper, who performed superbly during pre-season. Cech conceded just a single goal as Chelsea went to win all of their fixtures during the tour of Asia, as they claimed the Barclays Asian Trophy.
Villas-Boas, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti as Chelsea manager in the summer, revealed that the goalkeeper would be out after picking up an injury after training. He is expected back in three to four weeks time.
While the Blues have relatively easier fixtures after hosting West Brom, they face Manchester United at Old Trafford on 18th September. Cech will be in a race against time to recover for the important fixture, which will determine early on if
the Blues are in a position to challenge the Red Devils for the title.
In the meantime, Villas-Boas will be relying on either the 35-year-old Hilario or the relatively inexperienced Turnbull. With an otherwise impressive squad, the unavailability of Cech could ultimately make a difference for Chelsea.
The young Portuguese manager said in a press conference:
“http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Petr-Cech-c29837 yesterday suffered a medial ligament injury and will be out for three to four weeks.”
He continued:
“It was the end of training, a normal training incident.
He fell awkwardly with his weight on top of him.
We expected much worse when we saw the incident.”
Cech signed with Chelsea in the summer of 2004 for a fee of £7 million on a long-term five year deal from Ligue 1 side Rennes. He quickly established himself as the first choice keeper under manager Jose Mourinho, replacing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carlo-Cudicini-c8340.
In his seven seasons with the London club, Cech has made a total of 310 appearances in all competitions. His injury comes as a huge disappointment to the Blues, who are looking to return to winning ways after failing to secure any silverware last season.
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