Cole’s World Cup dreams hanging

Ashley Cole’s World Cup dreams were thrown into doubt on Wednesday after he fractured his ankle during Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat by Everton. The left-back is expected to be out for three months and will also miss the Blues title run-in. He limped off at Goodison Park after a challenge from Everton’s USA international Landon Donovan. Ironically, England’s first World Cup match is against the United States on 12 June and Cole is now in a race against time to be fit in time for it. The 29-year-old has been in superb form this season and his absence will be a blow to Chelsea. Russian Yuri Zhirkov or Portuguese international Paulo Ferreira look likely to step into the side at left-back.