The news was broken by Sven Goran Eriksson today. Apparently the injury occured a few days ago and a scan has today revealed the extent of the injury. It's not particularly serious, just enough to stop him playing awhile.

Eriksson has recalled Stephen Warnock to the squad for cover, with his second choice left back Wayne Bridge still on the way back from long-term injury. But he also has Jamie Carragher, Phil Neville, and Kieran Richardson in contention for the role. Carragher's the best defender, but perhaps Neville has the most experience at left back. Hardly a like-for-like replacement for the player Sven described today as "the best left-back in the world".

More importantly, Arsenal have Gael Clichy. So let's hope he stays fit because otherwise we could be looking at a Pascal Cygan cameo again. Clichy sounds up for the challenge. Cole will definitely miss the 2 England games and then West Brom (away), Sparta Prague (away), Man City (home), Sunderland (away), and Tottenham (away). And he'll be pushing it to be back in time for home games against Sparta and Sunderland at the start of November.

Eriksson also revealed that he's already decided which 2 of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, and Sol Campbell will start against Austria on Saturday. But he's not letting on. Terry and Ferdinand are the incumbents, but Sol's return to fitness and form, combined with the lacklustre nature of recent England performances, must surely see him return.

See also this interview in which Ash says that the England players, rather than Sven, were to blame for the loss to Norn Iron. He says, "It is nothing to do with the manager. He picked a way to play – but we didn't make it work. "

Ok Ash, so it wasn't all Sven's fault but, errrr, tell us again.... who did you say picked the way to play?