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November 13, 2012

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Terry injury blow for Chelsea in drawn tie

CHELSEA manager Roberto Di Matteo was fearing the worst after John Terry sustained a knee injury during the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

Terry had opened the scoring in the Premier League clash on Sunday but was carried off on a stretcher following an accidental collision with Luis Suarez, who scored the equalizer in the second half.

The Chelsea skipper, who was returning from a four-match domestic ban for racial abuse, immediately signalled concern to his bench when he went down and will have a scan to determine the nature of the injury.

"We have to wait until his MRI scan to understand the full extent," said Di Matteo. "There's concern. We just got him back into the team after the ban.

"It was great seeing him out there. We hope it's not a serious injury, but we'll see. When a player reacts like that, it's a concern. He's in pain now."

Terry opened the scoring in the 20th minute when he powerfully headed home from Juan Mata's corner for his 50th Chelsea goal.

"He started the game very good, showing the qualities he has, and the experience and influence," Di Matteo said. "It's a real shame he had to come off as he was having a very good game. We hope it's not long-term."

Chelsea had chances to seal the game but Brad Jones denied Fernando Torres and Mata was guilty of wasting opportunities either side of half-time.

Liverpool punished the hosts 17 minutes before full-time when Suso's corner was flicked on by Jamie Carragher and Suarez evaded Ramires to nod home.

Di Matteo said: "It was a poor goal to concede. We had man-marking for the opposition and Ramires was with Suarez and he pushed him away to create that bit of space for himself to nod the ball in. Sometimes the refs notice. Sometimes they don't. It's one of those."

Di Matteo also suggested that ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba will be allowed to train at the club's Cobham ground ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, which starts in January.

"He's a legend at this club, a real pleasure to work with," Di Matteo said. "If he needs any help from us, he'll always be very welcome in our club."

Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers believes his team needs investment in players to compete at the top of the Premier League. "We need one or two more players. That's our sixth draw. And a lot of those games we've come back into after going behind," he said. "We're normally dominating games with the ball. But we need materials. If we can get one or two (new players) in January, we'll turn draws into wins. The reality is we're a long way off in the league. I'm not going to say the word 'challenging'.



 

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