Terry to have scan on 'cracked ribs'

Soccer:John Terry has dealt Chelsea a major injury scare after revealing he has cracked two ribs and is struggling to breathe during games. The England international is due to undergo a scan this morning after coming off an hour into last night's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Benfica.

The 31-year-old suffered the injury in the first-leg victory in Lisbon and was able to complete that match and play 90 minutes of Saturday’s Barclays Premier League win over Aston Villa.

He admitted he was gasping for air last night, but insisted he was ready to continue playing through the pain during what is a nightmare run of eight games in just 26 days, including Champions League and FA Cup semi-finals against Barcelona and Tottenham respectively.

He said after last night’s 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge: “I couldn’t breathe and my chest was closing up. I was having a difficult time out there, especially in the first half. Hopefully, I’ll be okay. I don’t know how long I’ll be out. I will have a scan in the morning and we will see where we go from there. It’s just horrible.

“When you get one in the ribs, you can’t do anything about it, you can’t treat it, you just have let it heal, but I can get through games definitely. I thought it was okay but, later in the second half, it just seemed to be getting worse and I was struggling to breathe to be honest. It was difficult. I have never felt anything like that before.”

Meanwhile Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay has hailed the club’s turnaround in fortunes under Roberto Di Matteo after watching him guide them into the Champions League semi-finals.

Last night’s win over Benfica was the Blues’ seventh in nine matches since they sacked Andre Villas-Boas and appointed Di Matteo caretaker manager. The Italian also masterminded their run to the FA Cup semi-finals and has given them renewed hope of finishing inside the Barclays Premier League top four.

Asked if Di Matteo deserved a lot of credit for the job he had done, Gourlay said: “Yes, but it’s a team effort. Everyone has pulled their weight. We sat down and analysed the whole situation and I think we have seen the results.

“It is a fantastic achievement if you consider where we were two months ago. We set ourselves goals and to achieve what we have done in the last nine games has been a fantastic turnaround.

“Everyone has stepped up to the bar. We are just going to take one game at a time and see where we go from here till the rest of the season. We have a big squad, 24 players. Robbie has been rotating the players very well and that will continue over the next couple of months.”

Gourlay also confirmed Chelsea had given up trying to persuade the English FA to bring forward the kick-off time of their FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham on May 15th from 6.0pm. Di Matteo was “angry and disappointed” at the late start time just three days before the Blues’ Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona and the club were planning to lobby the FA on the matter.

But asked if they would continue trying to get it moved, Gourlay said: “I don’t think so. We made our views very clear. It was not just about the Barcelona game because we hadn’t qualified at that stage.

“The FA Cup semi-final is all about the experience for families and for kids and with a game that could finish late on a Sunday makes it very difficult for people who have to get home. But that’s it, we’re in the semi-final of the competition and hopefully we can play well and go through.”