Chelsea have confirmed late this afternoon that Ashley Cole will be sidlelined for “approximately” three months after sustaining a fracture to his ankle in last night’s defeat to Everton.

As we reported earlier, Cole was subbed after 57 minutes of the game after a challenge with Landon Donovan with assistant boss Ray Wilkins appearing to sound rather vague about the extent of the injury. We now know the prognosis.

Cole has been a popular fantasy target this season, his three goals and three assists have helped him claim over 16% ownership in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game. Only six defenders are more popular. This setback which threatens to effectively end his season and possibly threaten his World Cup spot, will see him sold on by thousands over the week ahead with United’s Evra, and his double fixture in gameweek 27, likely to be the main target. Expect a big price rise for Evra in the next fortnight then…

In the long-term, Cole’s absence leaves Carlo Ancelotti turning to Yuri Zhirkov to take up the left-back role. The Russian has failed to claim regular starts since his return from injury but will surely be given the opportunity now. Zhirkov is a fine player but an expensive fantasy proposition. His 7.1 price tag in the FPL is likely to be off-putting. That’s cheaper than Cole but given that Zhirkov is unproven in the Premier League, it would represent a gamble.

There are other options for Ancelotti. Once Jose Bosingwa returns from his own injury, the Chelsea boss could look to employ Ivanovic out on the left. Bosingwa is due to return in around three weeks according to Ancelotti but the option to use Ivanovic at left-back seems more like a plan B.