Ashley Cole set to be up and running for Chelsea in a fortnight

The England manager, Fabio Capello, has been given a boost after Chelsea confirmed that Ashley Cole will be able to resume running in training in a fortnight as he steps up his rehabilitation from a fractured ankle. Cole returned earlier this month from a spell at a medical centre in the south of France – along with his Chelsea team-mate Michael Essien, who has a knee injury – and was able to start work with physios at the club's Cobham training centre today. The Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, is convinced the full-back will be able to return to the first team before the end of the Premier League season, allowing Cole time to prove his form and fitness ahead of the World Cup finals. The 29-year-old, who fractured the joint in a clash with Everton's Landon Donovan in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at Goodison Park last month, did some light work with the club doctor, Dr Bryan English, in a sandpit at the training complex. "Ashley's recovery is going very well," said Ancelotti. "He's started to train with the physios today and I think that he will train on the ground, running, maybe in 15 days. So I think he will be ready before the end of the season." Capello's options at left-back are limited without Cole after Wayne Bridge's decision to retire from international football. Everton's Leighton Baines gained his first cap in the friendly victory over Egypt on 3 March while Stephen Warnock – impressive in his first season at Aston Villa – also has only one cap.