SUPER TROOPER: John Terry

John Terry is willing to undergo painkilling injections to get through next week’s Champions League final against Manchester United. The Chelsea captain will not return to training until Friday at the earliest after dislocating his left elbow in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Bolton Wanderers, but remains hopeful of making a rapid recovery to lead out his team-mates at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Avram Grant, the Chelsea coach, has given players two days off to help them to shake off the rigours of a draining Premier League season, with Terry handed an extended leave of absence.

The 27-year-old’s fitness levels are such that he will be permitted to sit out training until the start of next week if necessary, with a final decision being delayed until he has come through some physical contact. Terry has been reassured by club medical staff that the elbow is less likely to pop out of its socket again than a dislocated shoulder.

Ricardo Carvalho is expected to be back in training on Wednesday after 10 days out with a back problem, but even his return would not compensate for the loss of the inspirational Terry. John Obi Mikel demonstrated the extent of his teammates’ reliance on their captain by revealing that some of them are desperate for his swift return.

“It’s very important for the whole team that he is there for the final,” the Chelsea midfielder said. “We all pray and hope he’s going to be fit for the final. But we have proved all season that we have players who will come up with the goods when we need them.

“When you look at this squad, look at this team, they’re all big players. When we want them to stand up and be counted they’ve always done that. I’m a young player, playing for this team, but I respect the big players for what they’ve done. When we need them to go and do that, they’ve always done it.”

Mikel expressed confidence that Chelsea will win the Champions League for the first time, taking inspiration from last season, when they also lost out on the league title to United, but beat them in the FA Cup Final.

“It has been a very good season and it can finish on a perfect high if we can win the Champions League — and we believe we can do that,” Mikel said.

“We have to keep working hard and do what we need to do to win it. We didn’t want to speak about it too much on Sunday, but we can now think about Moscow.

“We know what happened last year when United won the league, but we beat them in the FA Cup Final. Now we need to try to repeat that again. We have to keep working hard and make sure Moscow is a whole different ball game. It’s going to be do or die, but we have to win. We know we are more than good enough to win there, but we have to wait and see what happens on the final day. I think we will win it.”

Chelsea are planning an extensive overhaul of their squad irrespective of the result in Moscow, a lengthy process that began on Monday with the signing of Jose Bosingwa from FC Porto for £16.2 million.

The 25-year-old right back has signed a three-year contract with wages of £50,000 a week.