Jose Mourinho has lost Michael Essien from his Chelsea
midfield again because of a knee injury which will sideline him for
up to 10 days. The Ghana international will miss Wednesday's trip
to Reading and Sunday's game at Liverpool after damaging ligaments
in the win against Birmingham.
He scored final goal of the 3-2 win against Steve Bruce's side two
days ago and looked a real force after being restored to the
Chelsea midfield. He has not had the best fortune with injuries,
damaging knee ligaments last season and others in his ankle this
summer but this is a consequence of his all action style.
Mourinho at least has plenty of cover, with Steve Sidwell pushing
for a place against his former club Reading tomorrow and Claude
Makelele and John Obi Mikel also in contention.
