Essien Injured ?

ACCORDING TO chelseafc.com, Africa?s most expensive player, Michael Essien, is nursing an injury, writes Isaac Franklin.

Midfield marshal, Essien, missed his Chelsea?s final battle of the English Premiership, yesterday, but the club?s website attributed his absence to injury. Among the injured players mentioned by chelseafc.com were the clubs? skipper, John Terry and Eidur Gudjohnsen, who also missed the game.

It reported that Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Hernan Crespo, as well as goalkeeper Petr Cech were made to rest, in view of next month?s World Cup finals.

Meanwhile, the much-depleted Chelsea side, which locked horns with Newcastle, were unlucky to have gone down to a one-goal defeat, in the last game of the season, at St James? Park.