
Chelsea midfielder Deco will miss the Blues' Champions League first-leg tie with Juventus on Wednesday night after suffering a minor hamstring injury.
The Portuguese playmaker missed training on Tuesday ahead of the meeting with the Turin outfit at Stamford Bridge, with the club later confirming he will be out of action for two or three days.
However, there was better news for Blues fans in the form that stricken pair Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien both took part in training.
Essien has been out since August after suffering a serious knee injury.
Meanwhile, temporary coach, Guus Hiddink hailed Juventus counterpart
Claudio Ranieri, who is returning to the west London club for the first
time since his departure as manager at the end of the 2003/04 campaign.
"What I like is he is a gentleman coach, very intelligent, he knows how
to cope with the press and the pressure in this particular job. I
respect him very much," the Dutchman told Chelsea's official website.
"I think he has several abilities, one is that when he was working here
he made a team very competitive for the Premier League. Second, what I
have seen recently and before is that he is a very good organiser. His
teams show enormous tactical discipline and play like a team.
"In his teams the stars, which he has also, can expose themselves, but
he organises teams in a very disciplined way. It is difficult to play
those teams he has managed."