OTHER SPORT

SHEVA'S SURGERY A BLOW FOR BLUES

Shevchenko will require surgery at the end of the season

Friday May 4,2007

By Nigel Clarke

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CHELSEA have revealed that Andriy Shevchenko has a groin injury which will require surgery at the end of the season.

However, they claim “the injury meant he missed the Liverpool match in midweek, but we are hopeful he will be available before the season finishes”.

Chelsea have two Premiership matches remaining after Sunday’s clash with Arsenal and also have the FA Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley on May 19. However the unsettled Ukraine star may well have played his last game for the club before he is moved on in the summer.

Meanwhile, as the Blues seek to make up the five points that separate them from United at the top of the Premiership, chief executive Peter Kenyon has insisted the race for the title is not over.

Chelsea’s dreams of a Quadruple were shattered by their Champions League defeat by Liverpool on Tuesday and they appear to be losing the battle for a third successive league title.

But Kenyon said: “It was disappointing and the team were distraught. But I was proud of them, the effort that went in, and to go to extra-time and penalties in a semi-final, you can’t ask for more than that.

“Once you get to penalties, anything can happen and it went against us. Although it will take a good couple of days to get over Tuesday night, there is still a lot to go for. We have a never-say-die attitude and it’s not over till it’s over.

“Yes we wanted all four trophies, but there is still a lot to play for, so let’s put Tuesday behind us and go forward in the league.”

Chelsea’s players will wear black armbands against United at Stamford Bridge next week following the death of the club’s honorary vice-president Phillip Carter in a helicopter crash.