Robben faces eight-week lay-off

SOCCER: Arjen Robben does not expect to play for Chelsea again until late March or early April after learning that he fractured two bones in his left foot at Blackburn last week.

The winger's lengthy lay-off means he will miss the League Cup final against Liverpool, both legs of Chelsea's Champions League second-round tie against Barcelona and as many as four Premiership matches.

His injury is a blow not just to the player but potentially to Chelsea's hopes of winning all four trophies this season because Robben has been a vital part of their success with his pace, goals and creativity.

Chelsea would hope to have the Dutchman fit for any Champions League quarter-final, with the first leg on April 5th or 6th. Robben called the injury "a disaster" and said he hoped to be back in "six to eight weeks".

"Six weeks is the average time to heal this injury and then I need a few more weeks to be completely fit again," he said. "I had a feeling it was serious but because of the swelling it was impossible to make a final diagnosis."

Chelsea's physio, Mike Banks, has not ruled out Robben returning next month. He said the injury suffered by Robben was different from those sustained by David Beckham in 2002 and more recently by Chelsea's Scott Parker. "One is a chip on the side of his foot, the other is a small break on the third metatarsal," Banks said.

"But this is not the traditional metatarsal (injury) that has become so famous since the last World Cup and which has kept Scott Parker out for two months, the fractures are tiny and he could be playing next month."

There seem likely to be more starts than usual now for Joe Cole or Mateja Kezman, at least until Didier Drogba comes back from injury. Jose Mourinho might consider changing his 4-3-3 system and playing two strikers while Robben is out.

The manager is not banking on winning at Everton on Saturday. "Every week after the internationals, we have lost points," he said. "Maybe it is time for us to lose points again."

Elsewhere, Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has backed Rafael Benitez as the manager to bring the Premiership title to Anfield, but conceded yesterday that the perceived success or failure of the Spaniard's reign will be determined by his team's ability to wrest power from the top three clubs. Liverpool's inability to challenge consistently cost Gerard Houllier his job. Yet, despite now lying 22 points behind Chelsea, Parry insisted that Benitez has the required skills to claim the club's first championship since 1990.

"Our level of expectation is winning the title," said Parry. "It's a very, very high standard. Nothing less is good enough, and Gerard Houllier fell victim to that. It goes with the territory at Liverpool. But let's not judge Rafa on his first season, or others' last season. We had barren spells in the 1960s and you can't turn it around overnight. We are perfectly happy with his aspirations, but you can't do it at once without a blank cheque. We never saw him as a gamble. It was about appointing a good manager and the prime target was winning the championship. The prime criteria was having a proven track record and they don't come any tougher than winning La Liga.

"We did have talks with senior players like Stevie Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen beforehand, because that makes sense," Parry added. "We asked them who was the best side we'd played in the last five years, and the answer was Valencia."

Liverpool are likely to face former forward Emile Heskey in Saturday's away clash against Birmingham. Steve Bruce is optimistic Matthew Upson (hamstring) and Heskey (Achilles) will both be fit to return to action.

Tottenham, meanwhile, will step up their preparations for next season by taking part in an eight-team tournament in Korea in July. They will face some of the biggest names in European football, including Lyon and PSV Eindhoven, as well as Boca Juniors from Argentina.

Plymouth Argyle yesterday completed the signing of the Everton striker Nick Chadwick for a fee of £250,000. Lee Hendrie signed a one-year contract extension yesterday and credited David O'Leary with turning his career around after an unhappy period under Graham Taylor.