Chelsea hit by Bosingwa lay-off

Bosingwa's injury is a big blow to Chelsea's defence

Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa has been ruled out for around three months after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

The 27-year-old has been sidelined since mid-October with the problem and will now be missing until the new year.

The former Porto right-back signed for the Blues on a three-year contract in a deal worth £16.2m in May 2008.

There was better news for the Premier League leaders with England left-back Ashley Cole not needing an operation following his shin injury.

A statement on the Chelsea website said: "Ashley Cole is suffering from an aggravation of a depressed fracture of the tibia, originally picked up against Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge. The injury will not require surgery."

Cole withdrew from the England squad for Saturday's friendly with Brazil in Qatar after featuring in the Blues' 1-0 win over Manchester United last Sunday.

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The 28-year-old had missed three games after initially picking up the injury in the 4-0 home win against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last month.

He returned against Madrid in the return Group D game last week but needed a pain-killing injection to enable him to play against United at Stamford Bridge.

Bosingwa, meanwhile, has a longer battle on his hands to return to action.

The Portugal international has made eight appearances for Chelsea this season having last played against Aston Villa on 17 October.

Injury forced his withdrawal during the second half of that match in which the Londoners lost 2-1.

Although manager Carlo Ancelotti said his squad did not strengthening following the Court of Arbitration for Sport's suspension of the Fifa transfer ban, he will also have several players missing in January due to the African Nations Cup.

Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel will all be travelling to Africa in the new year to play.