Terry hoping to return within a month

Terry admitted that surgery was the only cure for an injury which flared up while he was on international duty.

The problem cost him a place in Steve McClaren's side for the Euro 2008 qualifying games against Estonia and Russia despite his attempts to regain full fitness.

Terry said: "I'm back in the treatment room but it is not all doom and gloom.

"I'm out for around four weeks. It's a new injury. I got a bit of floating bone trapped under the knee joint and the only way to remove it was surgery.

"I'm already working my socks off to get fit and get back."

Chelsea have managed to record successive 2-0 wins over Middlesbrough and Schalke since he was sidelined and they face Manchester City tomorrow looking to extend their run to seven games unbeaten under new coach Avram Grant.

Grant has steadied the ship following the departure of former coach Jose Mourinho last month and has appointed Henk ten Cate from Ajax to help with the coaching duties alongside Steve Clarke.

Grant wants to change Chelsea into a side full of attacking flair and Ten Cate believes he can deliver the vision after a successful period at Barcelona.

Ten Cate helped Barca to the Champions League crown but warns the Chelsea faithful that a change in style will not necessarily bring success overnight.

Ten Cate said: "To the crowd, we are like the performers. If you go to the cinema, you want to see good acting.

"So if you go to a football game, you want to see good, attractive football that's fun to watch.

"I think the biggest compliment we got at Barcelona for winning the Champions League was not holding the cup, but that almost everyone knew and spoke about the football Barcelona played.

"That is a goal to achieve but it takes a lot of work - it took us three years and along the line sometimes you lose games. But as long as the people are pleased with your performance, you can lose a game here and there because you are unlucky.

"You should not be afraid of losing. Nobody can guarantee me that if you play defensively you win more games than if you play offensively."

Ten Cate added that it was the right time to move to Chelsea after a period in charge at Ajax.

He added: "They came in for me at the right time for them and it was the right moment for me so hopefully it's going to be a very strong partnership, which will finally end with us winning titles.

"I was attracted here because it is a big club and I like to work with a team who are able to win titles and prizes. I think this team is capable of doing this.

"But Chelsea lacks a little history in terms of winning the European Cup. My previous clubs had lots of European titles but this is a club that still needs to do so.

"Sometimes you have to be lucky to be in the right place at the right moment and I think this can be the situation for Chelsea."