Chelsea captain John Terry will miss Sunday's League Cup final after damaging his ankle against Porto on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho said.
Chelsea's coach was left to lament a run of bad luck with injuries as his team came away with a 1-1 draw from Wednesday's first knockout round, first leg Champions League tie.
His squad is depleted going into the clash with Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium and Terry, who twisted his ankle, is the latest to be ruled out of the match with their London rivals.
Chelsea are particularly short in central defence having lost Dutch international Khalid Boulahrouz with a dislocated shoulder last Saturday.
"John Terry has a problem with his ankle ligaments, but I cannot say much more," Mourinho was quoted as saying on Chelsea's official website (www.chelseafc.com).
"We don't have Boulahrouz and now we don't have Terry. We have just one central defender again. We have to play against Arsenal with [Michael] Essien and [Ricardo] Carvalho at the back because we have no choice."
Dutch winger Arjen Robben also had to come off with a muscle strain on Wednesday having not had time to warm up properly when he appeared as a substitute in place of Terry at short notice.
COOL MOURINHO
"Robben's injury was the consequence of not being warm [but] I don't think it is a big thing," said Mourinho.
"At halftime he [Robben] was saying he felt he could try to continue but I decided no because I lose so many players. I don't want to lose one more for a long time."
Asked about having to cope without the inspirational Terry, Mourinho said: "I am so cool about it because I am used to it. Every day I lose a player. This season we are doing a great job to be in the position we are in all competitions."
Despite the mounting injury crisis Mourinho, who coached Porto to Champions League glory in 2004, took heart from his team's fightback to level the tie on Wednesday.
"It's a positive result, a draw and playing away from home," Mourinho told Sky Sports.
"Under the circumstances I'm happy. You come here and after five minutes you lose JT [John Terry]. You have no central defenders on the bench so you have to change the system, you have to change everything.
"We have problem after problem. We keep losing players. Michael Essien is the power of the midfield and we have to play him in defence."
Terry returned to action only three weeks ago after eight weeks out with a back injury and Boulahrouz had also missed most games since the new year with a knee problem.
Those injuries caused friction in the Chelsea camp with Mourinho wanting to sign a defender and the Chelsea board reluctant to spend.
Mourinho has Sunday's final in Cardiff and a Premier League match at Portsmouth to negotiate before meeting his former club Porto for the return leg at Stamford Bridge on March 6.
