The 28-year-old took no part in three games after he first picked up the injury in Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge in the UEFA Champions League in October.

Later on, Cole's injury was aggravated when he prematurely made his return at Atletico last week, and featured in the 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Now the former Arsenal man is tipped to be out of action for quite a while, and has already been omitted from England's squad for next weekend's exhibition game with Brazil.

"Ashley Cole has not been selected in the England squad for their friendly against Brazil," a Chelsea spokesman said.

"He has a depressed fracture of the tibia, an injury first picked up in the Atletico Madrid home match last month.

"He aggravated the injury before the match against Manchester United and required an injection to play.

"However, he further injured it during the game and has therefore been ruled out of this week's England squad."