John Terry hopes to be fit for Saturday's FA Cup final despite suffering a painful injury in training today that left Carlo Ancelotti and Fabio Capello facing an anxious wait for the results of a scan on his right foot.
The sight of Terry being fitted with a protective boot and sent to hospital for a precautionary scan after another player landed on it during training was enough to send the rumour mill into overdrive, amid a flurry of erroneous reports that he had broken a metatarsal.
"I took a slight knock in training but with such an important match on Saturday the right course of action was to put a protective boot on my right foot and have a CT scan," he said.
"The scan has shown there is no break and I am hoping to train tomorrow if not Friday and, of course, play in the FA Cup final on Saturday."
The feverish speculation that is likely to accompany every knock to an England player between now and 12 June was heightened by initial fears that Terry may have broken a metatarsal – the injury that hampered the pre-tournament preparations of a string of key players in recent years including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen
Chelsea were quick to put out a statement stressing that Terry was walking freely when he left their Cobham training ground wearing the protective boot.
"John Terry has today taken a knock in training and has gone to hospital for a precautionary scan on his right foot," said the club. "He left Cobham walking freely in a protective boot, and we await the results which are expected on Thursday."