chelsea must banish thoughts of being nearly men, says carlo ancelotti

... "chelsea have been stripped of defensive options for today's visit of villa – the only team still to lose in the league this calendar year – with ricardo carvalho having joined ashley cole, branislav ivanovic and josé bosingwa on the sidelines ... ancelotti suggested ivanovic could yet return from a knee injury ahead of schedule for the game at old trafford next saturday and the club are hopeful that cole will be fit enough to feature in the game against stoke city on 25 april ... "i think cole will be ready before the end of the season," said ancelotti

tearful david beckham sees world cup dream dashed by milan injury

... ashley cole, england's first-choice left-back, returned from the south of france last friday where he had been undergoing treatment on the ankle fractured during chelsea's 2-1 defeat at everton last month

wayne rooney rules but fabio capello cant count on injured star for england clash with egypt

... not only has he stripped john terry of the captaincy but he has lost ashley cole to serious injury, wayne bridge to what looks like international retirement and rio ferdinand to a chronic back problem

exclusive- owen hargreaves tells capello- i wont make world cup

... with new captain rio ferdinand also struggling with a long-term backinjury that has restricted him to just 34 of the past 92 games for cluband country, plus doubts over the fitness of ashley cole and glenjohnson, and the row between wayne bridge and john terry, hargreaves'news is the last thing capello wanted to hear

the carling cup has grown up and is putting big brother in the shade

... the perils of prodigal portsmouth, the life and times of mr and mrs ashley cole, rio ferdinand's back – the game is in danger of wearing a look of endless crisis

the list- top 50 english players who should be on fabio capellos radar

... who's in his thoughts? is there a man to fill ashley cole's boots if the chelsea man doesn't recover in time? which of his imperfect goalkeepers will get the nod between the sticks?sportsmail try to help out the italian by revealing the top 50 english players of the here and now ... since returning from a knee injury, cole has failed to impress carlo ancelotti and was substituted at half-time during the fa cup clash with cardiff city recently ... on the ball: cole is out of contract this summer ut is a near-on certainty for south africa while phil neville has plenty of international experience to call on13 ... his 13 goals eclipse crouch's 10, cole's nine and heskey's five

exclusive- bridge to snub terry gesture in chelseas man city clash

... capello, who plans to sit down with his squad next week and remind them of their responsibilities as england players in the wake of the scandals concerning terry and ashley cole, intends to select steven gerrard as his captain against egypt should rio ferdinand fail to recover from yet another injury setback

martin samuel- jose mourinho is a master of both chelsea and inter milan

... arsene wenger played mathieu flamini in place of the injured ashley cole as arsenal advanced to the champions league final in 2006, and this was a similarlyimpressive turn

chelsea pensioners' rebuild will test roman abramovich's enthusiasm

... but, if his dream of european conquest is again not realised this year (and with the tawdry allegations surrounding ashley cole and john terry alarming the russian), questions must be raised as to whether he has sufficient enthusiasm to fund the rejuvenation of his ageing team

terry talks of personal 'mission'

... footballers' behaviour has been in the spotlight again this week, with lurid revelations about the private life of terry's chelsea team-mate ashley cole