Ashley Cole will be out for "approximately three months" after fracturing his left ankle in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat by Everton at Goodison Park last night, according to the club. The England left-back was replaced in the 57th minute of the match after a challenge from Landon Donovan.

The injury will jeopardise Cole's chances of going to the World Cup in South Africa with England, who are due to open their campaign on 12 June against Donovan and his United States side.

A lay-off of three months would see him return to action in mid-May. Chelsea's final Premier League fixture is on 9 May and only the FA Cup and Champions League finals will be played after that date, before the start of the World Cup build-up.

Manchester City's Wayne Bridge is likely to be next in line at left-back for Fabio Capello, who only last week took the captaincy away from John Terry amid reports of the Chelsea captain's alleged affair with Bridge's former girlfriend. Cole's absence could see Bridge selected to play against Egypt in a friendly on 3 March, which may bring him into contact with Terry, who today flew to Dubai to see his wife Toni.

Chelsea arguably have enough cover to compensate for Cole's loss, with Yuri Zhirkov an able replacement and the Portugal defender Paulo Ferreira also capable of playing at left-back. But the news will still be a major blow to the Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, whose side had their lead at the top of the Premier League cut to one point by Everton's victory.