The injury is bound to rule Ferdinand out of England's high-profile friendly against five-time World Cup winners Brazil in Qatar next week, as well as raising long-term fears for the player, who will celebrate his 31st birthday tomorrow.

Ferdinand has featured in only four out of England's last 11 internationals and, although Fabio Capello's men are not due to play again until March, it is bound to be a concern given the central defender's importance to the Three Lions.

With Gary Neville also out through suspension, Ferguson is shorn of a large dollop experience for the Chelsea encounter.

However, there is some good news, with Nemanja Vidic ready to return after his own calf problem while Dimitar Berbatov is expected to recover from a knee injury.

Burnley manager Owen Coyle could be tempted to name an unchanged side for the Barclays Premier League clash against Manchester City tomorrow.

Full-back Stephen Jordan is expected to face his former club after overcoming a thigh problem sustained in the victory over Hull last weekend.

Burnley are still without Martin Paterson, Chris McCann (both knee) and Jay Rodriguez (ankle) through injury as they aim to pick up their first point on the road.

Burnley (from): Jensen, Caldwell, Mears, Eckersley, Duff, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander, Fletcher, Elliott, Blake, Thompson, Eagles, Penny, Kalvanes, Gudjonsson, Edgar, Easton, Nugent, Guerrero, McDonald.

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and defender Kolo Toure look certain to return against Burnley at Eastlands.

Adebayor and Toure missed Sunday's goalless draw at Birmingham with ankle and heel injuries respectively, yet have trained without issues over the past two days.

Left-back Wayne Bridge and striker Roque Santa Cruz are doubtful and rated as 50-50 by City manager Mark Hughes with knee and ankle problems.

Manchester City squad: Given, Bridge, Zabaleta, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, de Jong, Toure, Ireland, Barry, Kompany, Bellamy, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Adebayor, Petrov, Sylvinho, Richards, Taylor, Johnson, Weiss.


Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is likely to be without key duo Andrew Johnson and Danny Murphy for Sunday's game at Wigan.
Johnson (shoulder) and captain Murphy (knee) both missed Thursday's Europa League defeat against Roma which could mean a start for Bobby Zamora in attack.

Dickson Etuhu could start after recovering from a knee injury while Damien Duff will be given a fitness test to see if he has overcome an Achilles injury.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Zuberbuhler, Konchesky, Pantsil, Hangeland, Baird, Smalling, Kelly, Hughes, Etuhu, Dempsey, Gera, Andranik, Riise, Greening, Duff, Davies, Kamara, E Johnson, Nevland, Seol, Zamora, Elm.

Benni McCarthy has returned to training ahead of Blackburn's home Barclays Premier League match against Portsmouth tomorrow.

The South African striker is back in the Rovers fold after recovering from swine flu.

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has virtually a full squad to choose from with only Vince Grella (thigh) missing.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Chimbonda, Salgado, Givet, Nelsen, Diouf, Andrews, Pedersen, Dunn, Brown, Reid, Jacobsen, Nzonzi, Emerton, Hoilett, Kalinic, McCarthy, Olsson, Jones, Roberts, Di Santo.

Swedish full-back Erik Edman could return to the Wigan side against Fulham at the DW Stadium on Sunday.

Edman has returned to training after a bout of concussion and is in line to make his comeback
Wigan are aiming to get back on track after losing to Portsmouth but will again be without Maynor Figueroa, who has a knee injury.

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Bramble, Scharner, Gomez, Melchiot, Boyce, Edman, N'Zogbia, Diame, Thomas, Scotland, Rodallega, Koumas, Sinclair, Pollitt, Cho, Kapo, Kingson, McCarthy, Amaya, De Ridder.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce faces a major selection headache ahead of tomorrow's Barclays Premier League trip to Tottenham.

Striker Kenwyne Jones is suspended after being sent off during last weekend's 2-2 draw with West Ham, while skipper Lorik Cana, who picked up his fifth booking of the season in the same game, also misses out.
Frontman Fraizer Campbell is expected to shake off a thigh problem, but Cana's absence is a real blow with Lee Cattermole (medial ligaments) also sidelined.

John Mensah (calf) and Bolo Zenden (hip) are again likely to be missing, and youngsters David Meyler and Adam Reed are included in the squad.
Sunderland: Gordon, Fulop, Bardsley, Da Silva, Nosworthy, Ferdinand, Turner, Richardson, McCartney, Reid, Malbranque, Henderson, Campbell, Bent, Healy, Murphy, Meyler, Reed.

Arsenal will again be without defender Gael Clichy (back) and striker Nicklas Bendtner (groin) for tomorrow's trip to Wolves.

Left-back Armand Traore and forward Carlos Vela (both groin) are close to fitness but will not be included, neither will midfielder Jack Wilshere (ankle) and goalkeeper Lukas Fabianski (thigh).

Brazilian midfielder Denilson (back) and England forward Theo Walcott (knee) should resume training following the international break, but centre-back Johan Djourou (knee) remains out.
Arsenal (from): Almunia, Gibbs, Vermaelen, Gallas, Sagna, Song, Fabregas, Diaby, Arshavin, van Persie, Eduardo, Mannone, Eboue, Ramsey, Senderos, Nasri, Rosicky, Silvestre.

Wolves striker Chris Iwelumo has been ruled out of the home Barclays Premier League clash with Arsenal tomorrow evening.

The Scottish international suffered a recurrence of a metatarsal problem during his full top-flight debut at Stoke last weekend - although there is no repeat of the close season fracture.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has already confirmed that last season's top scorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake will return to the starting line-up against Arsene Wenger's side.

Blake was axed from the first XI for the trip to the Britannia Stadium despite scoring his first Premier League goal, albeit from the penalty spot, against Aston Villa a fortnight ago.

Wolves: Hennessey, Zubar, Craddock, Berra, Elokobi, Edwards, Henry, Castillo, Kightly, Ebanks-Blake, Doyle, Hahnemann, Stearman, Halford, Jarvis, Milijas, Maierhofer, Keogh.


Portsmouth will be without injury-plagued right-back Steve Finnan for their Barclays Premier League trip to Blackburn tomorrow.

The Irishman is suffering with an abductor muscle problem, but striker Frederic Piquionne should be available, despite being carried off against Wigan last Saturday after taking a knock to his neck.

Papa Bouba Diop (hamstring) and Hermann Hreidarsson (foot tendon) are still on the road to recovery and will not play at Ewood Park.

Portsmouth: James, Kaboul, Mokoena, Mullins, Kanu, Basinas, Belhadj, Vanden Borre, Piquionne, Ben-Haim, Yebda, Dindane, Webber, Brown, Wilson, Ashdown, O'Hara, Boateng, Williamson, Smith.

Birmingham midfielder Barry Ferguson is suspended for Monday's Barclays Premier League clash with Liverpool at Anfield.

The former Scotland international was sent off for two bookable offences during Sunday's goalless draw with Manchester City and could be replaced by Lee Carsley.

On-loan goalkeeper Joe Hart is available after being ineligible to face his parent club although deputy Maik Taylor impressed against Mark Hughes' side.

Winger Keith Fahey is battling to overcome a knock to his knee in training but striker Garry O'Connor is still troubled by a groin problem and is a doubt.

Birmingham: Hart, Taylor, Carr, Parnaby, Johnson, Dann, Queudrue, Ridgewell, Vignal, Larsson, Bowyer, Carsley, Fahey, McFadden, McSheffrey, Jerome, Benitez, Phillips, O'Connor, Doyle.

Aston Villa will be without skipper Stiliyan Petrov and defender Habib Beye through suspension for tomorrow's Barclays Premier League match with Bolton.

Petrov collected his fifth booking of the campaign during the midweek defeat at West Ham - a game in which Beye was also sent off.
Nigel Reo-Coker will be a strong candidate to replace Petrov after impressing as a substitute against his former club while right-back Carlos Cuellar will return after a one-game ban and is likely to take over from Beye.

Striker Emile Heskey (back), wide player James Milner (calf) and midfielder Craig Gardner (groin) are major doubts for the meeting with the Trotters.

Aston Villa squad: Friedel, Guzan, Cuellar, L Young, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Shorey, Milner, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Delph, Gardner, A Young, Agonlahor, Carew, Heskey, Delfouneso, Albrighton, Clark.

Paul Robinson is set to deputise for the suspended Jlloyd Samuel in the Bolton defence for tomorrow's trip to Aston Villa.

Samuel was sent off in last week's 4-0 defeat against Chelsea after bringing down Didier Drogba.

Danny Shittu and Mustapha Riga are both doubts with hamstring problems, while Sean Davis and Joey O'Brien are long-term absentees with knee injuries.

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Al Habsi, Ricketts, Steinsson, Knight, Cahill, A O'Brien, Robinson, M Davies, Basham, Muamba, Cohen, McCann, Gardner, Taylor, K Davies, Klasnic, Lee, Elmander.

Fernando Torres returned to Liverpool's Melwood training complex today after a whistle-stop trip to Valencia for a second opinion on his groin injury.

The striker visited a Liverpool hospital yesterday for further tests after flying back to Merseyside with the rest of the squad following the 1-1 Champions League draw with Lyon.
Torres then visited a Spanish specialist who has worked with him before and is also favoured by Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez from his time at Valencia.

It is now expected the 25-year-old will do light training over the weekend and is still in contention to play against Birmingham on Monday.
Torres is believed not to want an operation on the problem, which is not a full hernia but a deeper groin injury affecting his adductor muscle.

He is also thought to want to play for Spain against Argentina next Saturday at his former home ground, the Vicente Calderon stadium of Atletico Madrid.

Exactly how Liverpool will feel about that is unclear but only a serious breakdown in Torres' fitness will make it possible for them to stop him travelling to join the Spain squad.
Steven Gerrard, who also has a groin problem, has also done light training this week and is not ruled out of the Birmingham game yet.