Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has confirmed that skipper John Terry will not be available for Tuesday night's trip to take on Swansea, but hopes to have him back in contention for this weekend's game against Manchester United.

The England defender is suffering from a recurring knee injury, and the Portuguese coach has admitted that Terry will not play against the Welsh outfit at the Liberty Stadium.

"It's just a bone oedema that he has been carrying for some time since he collided with a post, if I am not wrong against Portsmouth, and this stops him a little bit," Villas-Boas told Chelsea TV.

"It's nothing serious, but something to keep an eye on. He has had an MRI before and he should be okay for Man United.

"We have a lot of positions covered of course, because of our squad, we have Gary [Cahill] and David [Luiz] available and competing and hopefully we can make the right decision," he stated.

The Blues have problems in midfield also, with Ramires picking up a knock, joining Frank Lampard and Jon Obi Mikel on the sidelines.

"It's unfortunate for the team, Rami is one of the most used players of the team with excellent individual performance and always helping the team to get results," Villas Boas continued.

"With what could have happened, it's just good news that he will be out for a short amount of time. Hopefully he will be available for the Napoli game, and hopefully before.

"On another front, Mikel will be out of the game and Lamps still out of the game.

"Frank's rehabilitation is going well, we are trying to reintroduce him gradually to the first-team activities.

"Frank felt that it was still a little bit soon to come back and went on to work with the physios, so hopefully after Swansea we will get him ready for the Man United game," the tactician concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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