LONDON -- Chelsea captain John Terry has not recovered from an ankle injury in time to face Arsenal on Saturday, head coach Antonio Conte has confirmed.
Terry, 35, missed Chelsea's Premier League defeat against Liverpool and EFL Cup third round win over Leicester City with strained ankle ligaments sustained in the final minute of the Blues' 2-2 draw with Swansea City earlier this month.
He left the Liberty Stadium on crutches and was ruled out for approximately 10 days, putting him in a race against time to be fit for the trip to the Emirates Stadium , but Conte said: "John didn't recover from his injury. He's working, working, but he didn't recover for the game against Arsenal. I don't know [when he will be back]. In this case it's important what the player feels, the pain he feels."
Deadline day signing David Luiz and Gary Cahill are expected to start in the centre of the Chelsea defence in Terry's absence, while Conte has no other fresh injuries to contend with as he prepares to face Arsenal.
"In the team and the squad we have three central defenders," the Chelsea boss added. "It's normal to make a choice. I think it's normal when you are in a team like Chelsea to have this problem, but I don't see any problem in this situation."
Chelsea have kept just one clean sheet in seven competitive matches since Conte's arrival, but the Italian believes his team's defensive problems run deeper than Terry's injury issues.
"I think that when we conceded goals, all the team conceded," Conte added. "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."
Asked if opponents can sense anxiety in the Chelsea defence, Conte said: "I don't know. I don't know this. But if the opponents think this, they must also think that we can score a lot of goals."
Kurt Zouma remains sidelined as he continues his recovery from a serious knee injury sustained in a Premier League match against Manchester United in February, but Conte revealed that the Frenchman is close to making a significant step forward in his recovery.
"For Zouma, I hope to see him in the training sessions next week," Conte said. "He's in good shape and I hope to see him next week in training, to start counting on him."
Asked if Zouma could make his first-team return after the October international break, Conte replied: "Possibly, yeah. Possibly. Probably, yes. We will wait one week more."
Conte also insisted Cesc Fabregas has a chance to make Chelsea's starting XI against Arsenal, but says he is yet to decide who he will pick.