Ashley Cole's long-term ankle injury could see him rested for Chelsea’s Champions League tie on the artificial pitch at the Luzhniki Stadion in Moscow tonight.
The England defender broke his left ankle in February but has been dogged by nagging problems since moving from Arsenal in 2006.
The 29-year-old revealed at the weekend he felt like “35 or 40” because of the pain he suffers from the injury.
And Ancelotti said he will wait to see how Cole reacts after training on the pitch last night before naming his team to face Spartak Moscow.
“I don’t know if Ashley Cole is able to play,” admitted the Italian. “This pitch is different.
“Nobody knows about this pitch because we don’t have experience on this pitch. We have to look and see what happens.
“It is the same for Michael Essien who has a problem with his knee. After the training, we will take a decision. If he is comfortable to play on this pitch, he will play. If he is not comfortable, he will stay out.”
Ancelotti, who will be without Didier Drogba (virus) and Frank Lampard (groin) tonight, added that Cole now needs extra recovery time after matches for an injury which could dog him for the rest of his career.
“For a year, he has had a little problem with his ankle so we have to keep control of this,” continued the Blues boss.
“He needs to have more days to recover. After the game you maybe have to give him two days of recovery instead of one.
“I don’t know if this will affect him for the rest of his career. Maybe it can improve in the next year. I played for ten years with a problem with my knee. It is difficult for any player to be 100 per cent. To play a lot of games in a season is a lot of stress for your body. It is important to have got to have good control to maintain this level like he has now. Now he has a good control of his ankle.”
Cole said: “At the minute I’m just taking it year on year and seeing how the body is, because I’m 29 but I feel like 35 or 40.
“It’s hard getting up in the mornings, but I hope to have another four years and hopefully win a few more medals and win the Champions League.
“I’ve got three more years at Chelsea and I’d love to finish my career here.”
Source: Mirror Football
Cole: I want to finish my career at Chelsea
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