Chelsea's Carvalho out for at least four weeks

Chelsea will be without Ricardo Carvalho for at least four weeks after the Portugal defender damaged ankle ligaments in Wednesday's 5-0 win over Portsmouth, the Premier League club said Thursday.

Carvalho will miss the April 3 showdown against United at Old Trafford but will hope to be fit to play for Portugal at the World Cup in South Africa starting in June. "The club will be able to determine over the next 24 hours whether the injury requires corrective surgery, however we can confirm at this point that he'll be out for at least four weeks," Chelsea said on its Web site.

Chelsea, second in the league behind champions Manchester United, were already depleted in defense with England left back Ashley Cole, Serbia defender Branislav Ivanovic and Carvalho's compatriot Jose Bosingwa all sidelined.