Injury setback for Ivanovic

Ivanovic: Untimely knock

Branislav Ivanovic is facing up to 'two to six weeks' on the sidelines with a back complaint.

The Chelsea defender has been ruled out of international action with Serbia, but will welcome the fact that he has a domestic break in which to recover.

He is disappointed to have been ruled out of Euro 2012 qualification action, with dates against the Faroe Islands and Slovenia to come over the course of the next 10 days, but accepts he must watch on from afar.

"I came to Belgrade to see my team-mates, but the back injury is such that I cannot train or play," he said on Monday.

Ivanovic's priority now is to rest and try to shake off the knock as quickly as possible.

Struggle

Premier League action is set to resume after the international break on 11th September, with Chelsea taking on West Ham in a London derby that day.

They then get their UEFA Champions League campaign up and running on the following Wednesday against MSK Zilina.

Ivanovic may struggle to make either of those two games, but could be pushing for a recall by the time the Blues entertain Blackpool on 19th September.

The worse case scenario for the Serb is that he is forced to miss six weeks of action, as that would mean sitting out a number of crunch clashes at home and abroad.