LONDON - CHELSEA midfielder Michael Essien will be out of action for at least five months after rupturing an anterior cruciate knee ligament.

'I spoke to Michael and he's obviously had a bad injury,' Chelsea captain John Terry told a news conference in Zagreb ahead of England's World Cup qualifier against Croatia.

'He was saying it was like five or five and a half months.'

The Chelsea website (www.chelseaafc.com) said Essien had sustained the injury playing for Ghana against Libya in a World Cup qualifier last Friday and would undergo surgery once the swelling had subsided. -- REUTERS