Ashley Cole injured.

I was watching Sky this morning and they announced the England squad and noticed that Ash wasn't included. So I was wondering what was up and wondered if he had been called but withdrew (for a breather for a pointless game at a pointless venue in my opinion coming up to the Christmas period) but then this afternoon an official Chelsea spokesperson has announced the following:

"Ashley Cole has not been selected in the England squad for their friendly against Brazil."He has a depressed fracture of the tibia, an injury first picked up in the Atletico Madrid home match last month."He aggravated the injury before the match against Manchester United and required an injection to play."However, he further injured it during the game and has therefore been ruled out of this week's England squad."

So its bad news for Chelsea and for all of us. Arguably one of the most consistant players in recent times Ash has made the position his own. Wayne Bridge was offloaded as he was never really going to get a look in and this of course coincided with Ash's return to his best form, the form that we all witnessed in his days in North London.

This now provides Carlo Ancelotti with a problem. If Cole is out for a couple of weeks then who will he pick to replace him. Paolo Ferriera is the obvious choice as he plays there for Portugal and played there the other night for us. Juliano Belletti is another option and don't forget Yuri Zhirkov!.

One thing is for sure, I hope that Ash's injury isn't as bad as it could be and he is back fit sooner rather than later!