John Terry

London: Chelsea and England captain John Terry will be sidelined for up to six weeks after breaking three bones in his right foot.

Scans on Monday showed the central defender had fractured the bones, including his third metatarsal, after being tackled by Emmanuel Eboue late in the first half of Chelsea’s 0-1 Premier League loss to Arsenal on Sunday.

“An X-ray taken in the Arsenal medical room straight after John left the field didn’t show the injury,” Chelsea doctor Bryan English said. “However, as is usual with mid-foot injuries, the fractures were revealed following scans, which were performed this afternoon.”

The injury will likely keep Terry out of England’s February 6 friendly against Switzerland at Wembley. That will be England’s first game under new coach Fabio Capello, who wouldn’t say on Monday whether he would retain Terry as captain.

“John will start his rehabilitation immediately with the Chelsea medical team and we will continue to monitor his injury,” English said.

David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Gary Neville, Danny Murphy, Scott Parker, Ledley King and Emile Heskey are among other England players who have been sidelined with metatarsal breaks in recent years. (AP)