John Terry has been ruled out of Chelsea’s game at Southampton on Saturday.
The Blues skipper has indicated that he is ready to return from a hamstring problem, but boss Guus Hiddink wants to give him more time to recover.
Terry, 35, could be available for Tuesday’s trip to Norwich or next weekend’s home game against Stoke.
“He will not be fit (for the Southampton game). He is still having treatment,” Hiddink explained.
“He is doing exercises in the gym and on the pitch, but he will not be fit for the game.
“I want to be careful with this kind of injury, because when it’s something in the tendon or hamstring you can think it appears to be good, but you must be careful.
“I’m in favour of waiting. Everyone is saying, including the player himself, that he is okay, but I prefer to wait two or three days more, because it’s not good to be in a setback situation as we have experienced with other players.
“We have Norwich on Tuesday and we will see whether he will be available and see whether he will play against Stoke the next weekend.”
A win at St Mary’s could take Chelsea into the top half of the Premier League table.
This post was last modified on 27/02/2016