Boss Martin Jol is worried skipper Ledley might return from injury prematurely.

“I talked to him last week and he said ‘I feel I’ll be back against Chelsea away’ and I said don’t gamble on it,” said Jol.

“I can’t push him. It wasn’t only his left foot but his right as well.

“It’s a matter of not pushing him, and giving him the right stretches all the time.

“He could be back in a week but I’ve said that before. I don’t want to say anything to the supporters because he fell back before. You can’t take a risk.

“It wasn’t even broken. Robin van Persie at Arsenal had the same - they had to break his foot to get it right.

“We didn’t want to break a bruised foot, which can be even worse than a broken one.

“He’s increasing his volume of running and doing a lot of ball work now.”