Chelsea captain John Terry will be out for 'weeks rather than months' after injuring his knee following a collision with Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.

The former England captain received extensive treatment on the field before being stretchered off deep into the first half at Stamford Bridge.

Terry was later seen on crutches and his left leg in a brace following as his return from a four-match ban for racial abuse was ended prematurely, but Chelsea have been boosted by news the injury won't lead to a sustained spell on the sidelines.

John Terry
Terry will miss just a few weeks rather than a few months.

"MRI Scans reveal no significant damage to John Terry's cruciate ligaments," a Chelsea statement read. "He will be out weeks rather than months.

"Chelsea Football Club's medical team will conduct further tests over the next two or three days once the swelling has subsided to determine how long John will be out, but it will be a matter of weeks not months."

The 31 year old had netted the opening goal of a 1-1 draw with Liverpool and the first half injury will now see him miss the trips to West Bromwich Albion and Juventus in the Premier League and Champions League respectively, as well the home games against champions Manchester City and west London rivals Fulham.

After the game, Suarez, who slipped and fell into Terry's standing left, causing the awkward fall wrote on facebook: "Hugs to Terry."

The Chelsea skipper had made the perfect return from his four game ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, scoring the opening goal as the hosts took the early initiative.

But several missed chances saw Liverpool cling on, and they eventually equalised with 15 minutes left as Suarez nodded beyond Petr Cech after Jamie Carragher's flick on.

The Czech Republic stopper, who was helpless to prevent Suarez's close range header handing Liverpool a point, said: "It was exactly the game which shows how difficult the Premier League is when you don't kill a game off.

"We had complete control for 70 minutes and had so many chances you would think it is just a matter of time until we score a second or third, but unfortunately we didn't and allowed them to be alive, and then they came back into the game.

"The goal helped them and it opened the game, and in the end they could have won but we should have won the game."

Facebook London