Benitez reveals Cahill knee op

Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez has confirmed Gary Cahill has undergone surgery on a knee injury.

The 27-year-old, who withdrew from the England squad through injury last month, has not played for Chelsea since damaging his meniscus knee ligament against West Ham United on March 17.

Cahill did not travel with the squad to Russia for the UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg with Rubin Kazan, and is expected to miss a further two weeks at a minimum.

“He had an operation,” Benitez said.

“We did it very quickly on the Saturday of the Southampton game (on March 30).”

The former Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers centre-back has made 24 appearances in the Premier League this season and Benitez will be hoping for a speedy recovery, with fellow defender Ryan Bertrand recently joining Cahill and Ashley Cole on the treatment table.

Chelsea’s next match is an FA Cup semi-final at home to Manchester City on Sunday.