Terry out, Drogba off ... can it get any worse for Abramovich and Chelsea?

Terry will have surgery today while Drogba, who had only just returned from injury, misses next Sunday's trip to Bolton after being sent off for two bookable offences.

John Terry is caught in the face by Clive Dempsey's elbow

It all added up to a desperate afternoon for owner Roman Abramovich, who was barracked by the club's fans after deciding to sit among them in the old Shed End as Chelsea completed their fourth Premier League match without scoring.

New manager Avram Grant's first home game in charge started to go wrong when Terry was flattened by an apparent elbow to the right of his face in a collision with Fulham striker Clint Dempsey. Terry was treated for several minutes before walking off. He came back on, but was replaced at half-time and sent to see a specialist, with an operation on a depressed fracture planned for this morning.

Chelsea insist Terry was not concussed and, remarkably, expect him back for training tomorrow. But any complications could keep him out for weeks, robbing England of their captain for the crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers with Estonia and Russia in a fortnight. Grant, insisted he had not seen the Terry incident, but admitted: "The players said it was an elbow. He wanted to continue but we didn't want to take the risk with something to the head. You can't take a risk."

It was a grim first home game for Grant following the sacking of Jose Mourinho, whose name was sung all around the ground as Chelsea failed to break down spirited opponents and ended being booed off the field.

Up in the Shed End, sat alongside director Eugene Tenenbaum but seemingly without security guards, Abramovich (pictured above) had his head in his hands as Andriy Shevchenko struggled, missed chances and was substituted after 53 minutes. "It was not our best game, but not our worst," said Grant.