Just before their important clash against bitter City rivals Arsenal, Chelsea has suffered a huge blow as their defender John Terry has been ruled out of the London derby. The veteran defender got injured during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Swansea City two weeks ago and was expected to remain on the sidelines for ten days.

However, Chelsea boss Antoni Conte revealed that the 35-year old has still not fully recovered from the injury. Terry has already missed Chelsea’s Premier League defeat against Liverpool and EFL Cup third round win over Leicester City.

“John did not recover from his knee injury,” Conte said at his press conference.

“He’s working but he did not recover for the game. I think it is normal to make a choice and normal when you are in a team like the Chelsea to have this problem.

Admitting that the upcoming game is a big one, the Italian tactician said:“Sure this is a big game, to beat your rivals and it is important to play a good game especially after our defeat to Liverpool. But we know tomorrow we face a good team and big rivals and I’m sure Arsenal will fight until the end for the title.”

Terry’s absence means Gary Cahill and David Luiz will start for the Blues at the centre of defence. The Blues’ defence has looked quite weak and so far they have kept a clean sheet on only one occasion in all competition this season. However, Conte refused to blame the defenders and insisted that they need to improve together to solve the problem at the back.

“I think that when we conceded goals, all the team conceded,” the Italian said.

“Not just the defenders. That means we must improve together to improve the defensive situation. The problem was already there, last season. Chelsea conceded 55 [53] goals last season. We must work a lot on this aspect. If you want to have a great championship, sure, you can’t concede that many goals.”

Chelsea are now winless in their last two games and they will have to play out of their skin to defeat Arsenal who has won their last three league games.