It looks as though Joe Cole’s injury, sustained against Villa on Sunday is worse than first anticipated with talk already of him missing the next Premiership fixture with Boro.

Cole has reportedly suffered ligament damage to his ankle and the injury was apparently scanned on Monday evening. Chelsea are waiting until later this week to assess the full damage but a return against Boro on October 18 is already regarded “unlikely”.

Kalou will likely benefit from a start as a result – making him a consideration for that game, particularly in the FPL where he is classed as a defender. However, the report in the Independent goes on to suggest that Deco could make a return to action sooner than expected to boost Scolari.

Deco is currently nursing a tear in his thigh muscle and has already been out for over a fortnight. He has however, flown to Portugal to join up with international team mates and could even play a part in their second match against Albania next week. If that’s the case we could see Deco back in Chelsea colours very soon, although the Boro could well be just that little bit too soon.