John Terry fears long injury lay-off

Chelsea captain John Terry fears that he could be sidelined for months due to a long-term nerve injury in his leg.

Terry missed out on Chelsea’s shock defeat to Sunderland with the injury, with the Black Cats exploiting a makeshift central defensive pairing of Paulo Ferreira and Branislav Ivanovic in the absence of Terry and fellow defender Alex at the back.

Terry has been struggling with the injury since the end of last season, but has revealed that while he had been relying on adrenaline to get through games, the pain has become so intense that he is in agony after games and has trouble sleeping as a result.

“It is at a point where I cannot carry on with it,' he told The Sun.

“I used to be able to make it through games because the adrenaline gets you going and you blank the pain out.

“But now there is no decision to make. After games I'm in agony and not sleeping at all.”

Terry will miss out on England’s friendly with France on Wednesday night and Chelsea’s meeting with Birmingham at the weekend and it is reported that he may travel to Italy this week in an attempt to find a cure for the injury.

Terry added that the problem is causing him no end of frustration and that he has no idea when he will be fully fit.

“I'm at my wit's end,' he added.

“I know I won't play against Birmingham on Saturday but beyond that there are no clues.

“It could be weeks, it could be months.”