Chelsea and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has been ruled out of the World Cup due to injury.

The 27-year-old missed a large part of the recently-concluded season due to knee and ankle injuries and has hardly played any competitive football since December.

National coach Milovan Rajevac had hoped the former Lyon man would be passed fit for the showpiece tournament in South Africa this summer, but the Ghana Football Association announced on Thursday he was not expected to be back in action until the end of July.