• Chelsea captain puts Capello’s mind at ease over foot injury
• Terry hopes to be fit for FA Cup final against Portsmouth

John Terry hopes to be fit for Saturday’s FA Cup final despite suffering a painful injury in training today that left Carlo Ancelotti and Fabio Capello facing an anxious wait for the results of a scan on his right foot.

The sight of Terry being fitted with a protective boot and sent to hospital for a precautionary scan after another player landed on it during training was enough to send the rumour mill into overdrive, amid a flurry of erroneous reports that he had broken a metatarsal.

Capello, who has endured a torrid week amid criticism over his involvement in a player rating web venture that is now on hold until after the World Cup, will be relieved that the injury does not appear to be as serious as first feared.

Terry, who hopes to lead Chelsea to their first double on Saturday, was said to have found the injury “very painful” initially but was quick to put Capello’s mind at ease following a precautionary scan.

“I took a slight knock in training but with such an important match on Saturday the right course of action was to put a protective boot on my right foot and have a CT scan,” he said.

“The scan has shown there is no break and I am hoping to train tomorrow if not Friday and, of course, play in the FA Cup final on Saturday.”

The feverish speculation that is likely to accompany every knock to an England player between now and 12 June was heightened by initial fears that Terry may have broken a metatarsal – the injury that hampered the pre-tournament preparations of a string of key players in recent years including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen.

Capello was already facing a series of difficult choices over his first-choice pairing in central defence, even before today’s scare. Rio Ferdinand has been struggling for fitness all season, although he recently received a positive prognosis from the Manchester United medical staff.

Ledley King, who was included this week in Capello’s provisional list of 30, requires intensive treatment on a chronic knee injury between every match and is unable to train. The other centre-halves named in Capello’s initial party, to be reduced to 23 by 1 June, were Matthew Upson, Michael Dawson and Jamie Carragher, who was coaxed out of retirement by the England coach.

Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s director of football development, said yesterday that including King in the World Cup squad was a gamble worth taking.

“Ledley is a gamble to a certain extent, but everyone knows how to utilise Ledley,” he said. “He doesn’t do a lot of training, you bring him in before a game and with two or three days in between it’s workable. You make that judgment on what the other centre-halves, like Rio Ferdinand, are looking like. You’ve got Jamie Carragher as well as cover.”

Capello is also sweating over the fitness of his first-choice holding midfielder Gareth Barry, who was included in the provisional squad despite an injury that could well yet rule him out.

Chelsea were quick to put out a statement stressing that Terry was walking freely when he left their Cobham training ground wearing the protective boot.

“John Terry has today taken a knock in training and has gone to hospital for a precautionary scan on his right foot,” said the club. “He left Cobham walking freely in a protective boot, and we await the results which are expected on Thursday.”

Terry played alongside Alex in Sunday’s 8-0 victory over Wigan Athletic that clinched the title for Chelsea and the manager Ancelotti would be likely to pair the Brazilian with Branislav Ivanovic if his captain was not fit for the FA Cup final, bringing in Juliano Belletti or Paulo Ferreira at right-back.

For Terry, today’s scare was the latest twist in a rollercoaster season during which his form and character have been under intense scrutiny but ended with him lifting the Premier League trophy.

He was stripped of the England captaincy by Capello following allegations of an affair with the ex-girlfriend of his former team-mate Wayne Bridge, a saga that led to the left-back turning his back on the chance to go to the World Cup after concluding he could not be in the same squad as Terry.

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• Club and striker confident of swift agreement
• Talks over Joe Cole’s new deal remain deadlocked

Chelsea have opened talks with Nicolas Anelka’s representative over extending the France striker’s stay at Stamford Bridge. The 30-year-old’s current contract expires at the end of next season, with discussions now under way to keep him at the club until 2013.

Anelka’s adviser, Doug Pingisi, was in London last week for preliminary discussions with both club and player confident negotiations will be concluded swiftly. The Frenchman moved to Chelsea from Bolton Wanderers for £15m and has been one of their most consistent performers over the last two campaigns, scoring 19 league goals last season.

His form, which has led to eight league goals to date this term though none since January, has impressed Carlo Ancelotti. “Anelka is a top player and this club needs to have a lot of top players,” the Italian said recently. “I’m confident he’ll stay with us. The club will try to find the right solution for both Chelsea and for him.”

The speed at which negotiations are expected to be favourably concluded contrasts markedly with the currently deadlocked talks with Joe Cole. The England midfielder, an unused substitute in Sunday’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Stoke City, is seeking to increase his wages from £80,000 a week to nearer those of the higher earners at the west London club with compromise yet to be reached.

Both Chelsea and Cole – who was absent for seven months up to September after suffering a serious knee injury – remain hopeful that a deal can still be struck that will extend the player’s seven-year stay beyond the end of the season, when his current deal is due to expire. “Joe’s had a very traumatic time with his knee, and you get highs and lows,” said the assistant manager Ray Wilkins when asked about the midfielder’s recent dip in form. “But he’ll play plenty of games for Chelsea.”

Ashley Cole is expected to return to Cobham after the weekend after a spell undertaking rehabilitation on his fractured ankle in the south of France. The England full-back’s progress has been steady since he underwent surgery on the joint broken in a challenge with Landon Donovan at Everton last month, and he remains confident that he will prove his fitness well ahead of the summer’s World Cup finals.

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